I'm Old

I don't mind so much getting old because it beats the alternative but somedays it hits me pretty hard. For example, my nephew, when he has his next birthday in a couple of months, will officially be half my age.

My nephew is celebrating his first wedding anniversary today (One would assume his wife is also celebrating).

So this kid who was a baby only a few days ago - I'm sure of it - is now an old married man with a year of experience on his life resume. I'm so old.

Happy Anniversary, K & M.

Another Helping of Cherry Marmalade

Here is the other 33.3% of my autographed CD collection.



I will remind you that I bought this CD off of Amazon Marketplace - used - with no idea that it was autographed. If I had known, I would have paid exactly $0.00 more for the CD, but now that I've got it, I'm enjoying having it. And more importantly, listening to it.

XOXO

Hey, I found my scanner. It was on my desk. I will not admit to how high the stack of papers on it was (but - in my best Jon Stewart voice - it was a taaaallll stack).

Here are the latest additions to my music collection.


Wish on the Moon is Alison's 2007 album. It's the one that contains Crazy Game.



The title of this bad boy is a pun. It's an EP - eight songs - of cover versions. One of the songs she covers is by Paul Westerberg, the same guy this blog pays homage to in the Knowledge is Good section to the right.

Alison's Facebook page said she's having a release party for the new CD on September 11. Let me check my schedule. Yep, I'm free.

Alison Scott

My regular readers, both of you, may have noticed I have a little fixation on Shannon Curfman. Well, the fixation is on her first album and her amazing talent, which, for the last decade, has only seen the light of day a few times. That first album, Loud Guitars, Big Suspicions, was largely produced by Kevin Bowe, and ten of the fourteen songs were co-written by him. You probably haven't heard of Mr Bowe, but the man has chops. He worked with Jonny Lang and Kenny Wayne Shepard in the 1990s, has written and produced a ton of stuff since, and is rumored to have won a Grammy, although I can't find exactly what for.

Because of my devotion to the beautiful blues on Loud Guitars, Big Suspicions, I check in on Kevin Bowe once in a while. I visited his web site on June 24. It's not terribly up to date but on one page, he posted two songs by an artist for which he's writing and producing. Her name is Alison Scott. I downloaded the songs, put them on my iPod and started to listen. The first song I listened to was Crazy Game.

Do you ever have a life-changing moment and you know it's a life-changing moment? I did.

The song starts unpretentiously but Alison's voice caught my ear right away. When she got to the chorus and belted out "Craaaaa-zy game," I was intrigued. And when the fourth line of the chorus came by and she effortlessly hit a higher register singing, "Then we'd never even have to say it," I was hooked and realized that for the rest of my life, the music of Alison Scott will never be more than a couple of clicks away on my iPod. What, you thought my life-changing moment was that I was going to become Buddhist or something?

I listened to the other free song, Babymama, and was convinced she had plenty o' talent. I found some more songs floating around on the internet and for the last two weeks, I've been listening away. Good stuff.

I asked my buddy Joel, the all-knowing master of obscure music, if he had Alison's CDs. He didn't and had only a vague inkling that he'd heard of her before but wasn't sure where. I consider this moderate irony as when I once asked, years ago, if he'd ever heard of a guy named Kevin Bowe, he reached over to a stack of CDs about 100 high and pulled out one from the middle. It was Restoration by Kevin Bowe + the Okemah Prophets. It's going to be delicious to introduce him to Alison's music.

So I found a Facebook fan page for Alison and pushed the "Like" button. She posts pretty often and said the other day that she and Kevin were going to play a free concert at Augsburg Park in Richfield Thursday night. Actually, she said, "make some noise." Guess where I was tonight?

They had a three-person set-up going, with Alison on keyboards, Kevin on electric guitar and a guy whose full name I didn't get (sorry, James) on a second keyboard. It seemed like an acoustic set even though everything was amplified. Alison was in fine voice, playing a few songs that I recognized from her CDs and introducing a few from the third CD which, she said, they'll be putting the finishing touches on tomorrow. Pretty good stuff.

During the mid-point break, I went up and purchased her first two CDs (and you thought I would download the music and listen to it for free. Hah!). Alison even graciously autographed them for me, although the downside of that is that Kay Hanley's Cherry Marmalade will no longer be the only autographed CD I have on display. Gee, too bad.

I chatted with Kevin for a few minutes, as well. I asked him about his co-writer on I Don't Make Promises (I Can't Break). The guy was listed as Kostas and I wondered if he was the same Kostas who wrote songs on a few country records I own. He said it was the same person. Nice guy, Mr Bowe. Makes great music.

The mosquitos and I enjoyed the second half of the show and headed home. I, of course, was listening to my iPod on random. The random playlist had just under 1000 songs to choose from. Ten minutes down the road, a song from Kevin Bowe + the Okemah Prophets came on. Wait a minute! I just talked to that guy! That was a fun ride home. I enjoyed The Heart of the Everything before, but I love it now.

Alison and Kevin have a few more gigs scheduled in and around the Twin Cities in the near future. If you like hearing a good singer, a bluesy-soulful one at that, I recommend you check her out.

PJ

I've been watching a show on TBS called My Boys (fourth and final season premiere: July 25). It's about a tomboy sports reporter named PJ. She has a rather girly first name, so she probably started using the initials as a way to blend better with her preferred companions, guys.

It's human nature to adopt a diminutive name for someone you know well. How would you shorten PJ? Well, in My Boys, they occasionally call her Peej. Two syllables down to one. Nicely done. Peej.

The simplicity of that nickname made me think that maybe I should adopt my initials and have my family start calling me by a one word nickname like Peej. That would be so cool. "Pat" is just too complicated.

Let's take a look at my initials and see what we can come up with.

Well, my first name is Patrick, so that's a P.

My middle name begins with J, so that means my new nickname is, uh, PJ.

Hmm...

That makes my new nickname Peej.

Hmm...

Well, that was easier than I thought it would be.

Tiffany vs Debbie Gibson

I read a couple of "news" stories this week about a SyFy movie currently being filmed called Mega Python vs Gatoroid, starring Tiffany and Debbie Gibson. The stories all had a take on it as the ultimate showdown between Tiffany and Debbie Gibson.

Really?

That war was won by Debbie Gibson so long ago that she probably has no idea anyone ever thought otherwise.

The evidence: Tiffany was a teenage singer, 17 at the time, who released overly produced pop songs and had a one-year run in 1988-89. She had four top 40 singles, two of which hit number 1. 50% of her career output were dance remakes of songs that had become classics - for the Beatles and Tommy James - before she was born.

Debbie Gibson, 16 when she released her first album, had a three-year run from 1987-1990, with nine top 40 singles, six top 10s, including two number 1s. Tiffany may have sold a similar number of albums in the 80s, but lets look at the content of Debbie's albums.

Debbie, a musical prodigy from infancy and possessor of an amazing voice, wrote all of her own material. She played keyboards on her albums. With perfect pitch, she sang most of her own backing vocals. She produced or co-produced most of her own music. In 1989, she was given ASCAP's Songwriter of the Year award, but she had to share it with some guy named Bruce Springsteen.

Her seven studio albums contain over 80 songs, mostly well crafted, great sounding music of the pop and ballad genres, including some songs that must be considered some of the greatest tunes in the history of recorded music. True, she gets a few demerits for emphasizing dance music and remixes, but I'm not perfect either.

From a musical perspective, there is no comparison between Tiffany and Debbie Gibson. Truth be told, though, I have nothing against Tiffany - I have all of her hits in my collection and enjoy listening to them. And in non-musical comparisons, all bets are off. For example, Tiffany's Playboy pictorial was more than adequate while Debbie's was...well, they went out of their way to make her look... unsexy.

Nonetheless, I think I'll slip on my headphones, crank the volume to 11, and listen to Lost in Your Eyes, Ode to a Would Be Lover and Wishing You Were Here before turning in. Ultimate showdown indeed.

Kathy Mattea in Concert

I attended a Kathy Mattea concert two weekends ago. It was pretty good. The lady certainly has pipes and, for my money, sounds better today than she did on some of her early albums.

The concert was at Minneapolis' Orchestra Hall, so it was acoustic, accompanied by a guitarist, a guy on mandolin and violin, and a guy on stand-up bass. You don't see a stand-up bass in pop music very often. Kathy herself played guitar on many tunes and is quite the accomplished player herself.

The set went just over two hours, excluding intermission. I was sitting in the front row, off to the right, about 10 feet from a speaker, so I heard everything perfectly, if not too loudly. My view of the musicians was almost in profile, so Kathy and the mandolin/violin player were backlit by a yellow key light that made it look like she was going gray.

As a group, they played extremely well and the accoustic arrangements suited her catalog very well. I enjoyed the music very much.

OK, now for the quibbles.

Orchestra Hall is a pit. Not an orchestra pit, but an old, decripit hovel. I was expecting seats similar to what I might find at a movie theater, but the seats were actually small, non-reclining, wooden framed, and uncomfortable. Think airline seats but not as nice. If I hadn't been in the front row, I would have had no leg-room at all. They also served alcohol in the lobby, so there were a bunch of tipsy people smelling of booze all around me. The whole place was dingy and dank.

I also had a fundamental disagreement with Orchestra Hall over the ticket price. There were originally two Kathy Mattea shows scheduled last November but one was cancelled, the other postponed. I thought I should get a refund for the cancelled show and a ticket to the postponed show but they thought it would be fair to give me two tickets to the single postponed show. I'm one guy - it's difficult to be in two seats at once. A ticket agent for the Orchestra tried to tell me how fair their refund policy was but when I asked for cash back for one of the tickets, she said they never return money. Fair for them, I guess. My front row seat, off to the side and too close to the speakers cost me a cool $130.

Kathy Mattea has an unhealthy obsession with coal. She released an album in 2008 compiled of folk songs about coal miners, coal towns, and mine disasters, so it was understandable that she'd hit songs from that album pretty heavily, but think about this: coal mining is a dirty business and mine disasters are, by their very nature, not pleasant events, so the songs are rather depressing. I would have preferred that she play more of the old hits. I will name three songs that I consider mandatory for a Kathy Mattea concert set that weren't included: Lonesome Standard Time, Love Travels and what would have to be a crowd-pleasing BFD. I would also have loved to hear her sing Quarter Moon live. Its arrangement is already mostly accoustic, so it should have been easy to play.

My final quibble. For her encore, a concept I have issues with in general, the band played an instrumental song. It was a fine song but not what I was looking for from a Grammy-award winning singer.

One Year of Music on the New Computer

On June 14, 2009, I loaded my music collection onto my new computer and started listening to songs in my random and seemingly aimless fashion. It took until December 2, 2009, to listen to every song at least once.

While I have a trouble-free, mostly random and constantly replenishing playlist that I use most of the time, I still listen to catchy songs whenever the spirit grabs me and I occasionally listen to albums or special playlists. That drives up the playcounts on some songs. In a moment, we'll take a look at the most often played songs for the past year. But first, let's do some numbers.

Songs loaded one year ago:  9574
            Current song count: 10151

Most recently added song: The Look of Love by Beverley Staunton. It's a cover of the 1967 Dusty Springfield song, from Beverley's 2001 jazz album. You may not know the name Beverley Staunton, but if you watch Dancing with the Stars, you've heard her voice. She's incredibly versatile and sings about 3/4ths of the female-lead songs on that show. I looked for music from her but could only find the 2001 album. You can bet that if she had released more albums, I would buy them.

The top three songs as they were moved from the old machine:

3) Kay Hanley - Mean Streak (Do You Miss Me, Too?) -- 41 plays
2) Debbie Gibson - Only in My Dreams -- 46 plays
1) Jim Capaldi - That's Love -- 53 plays

As of June 14, 2010, Debbie Gibson's Only in My Dreams is one of six songs tied for 7th place, with eight plays.

Three songs are tied for 4th with nine plays. They are Save it for a Rainy Day by The Jayhawks, Cherry Bomb by The Runaways, and What Becomes of the Brokenhearted? by Joan Osborne. The playcount of Cherry Bomb jumped when The Runaways movie came out a few months ago. The Joan Osborne song will be featured in The Best Songs You've Never Heard, Volume 3.

And how consistent am I?

3) Jim Capaldi - That's Love -- 12 plays
2) Kay Hanley - Mean Streak (Do You Miss Me, Too?) -- 17 plays
1) Kay Hanley - Tell Him No -- 27 plays

(To see more about Jim Capaldi's song, see my recent post on the The Best Songs You've Never Heard, Volume 1. To see more about Kay Hanley and especially about Mean Streak (Do You Miss Me, Too?), see my post on Cherry Marmalade)

I bought Kay's latest album, Weaponize, on September 18, 2009, so Tell Him No's 27 plays happened in only nine months. Weaponize is a decent album but only Tell Him No grabbed me viscerally. It's a peppy, guitar-laden song that feels like it's moving at 90 MPH. I'm not sure what the song is really about but I enjoy the heck out of it.

Weaponize also featured Don't Drop a Bomb, a duet with a female rapper, which was not to my taste, so I edited out the rap. The result is actually pretty good and doesn't sound too choppy. My edit of Cobra Starship's Snakes on a Plane (Bring It) is pretty choppy, but the song is so good, I put it up with it. The rap in both Don't Drop a Bomb and Snakes on a Plane (Bring It) makes them unlistenable otherwise, so editing is a requirement. And truth be told, fun.

Where will I be at this time next year? Who knows, but I'm sure I'll bore you at that time with more details than you could ever want to know.

Soccer

I don't think soccer will ever catch on.  First of all, the name.  It's futbol across the world but soccer in the States.  That's not helping.

I watched the US vs England match in the World Cup earlier today.  OK, I recorded it and fast forwarded through much of it, but still.  Nothing happened.  Almost 100 minutes of playing and there were just two goals.  Nothing happened.

Here's how futbol works.  The ball gets booted around for a minute, then someone tries to kick it into the goal.  The goalies are 95% effective at blocking shots.  Bounce-bounce-bounce-shoot.  Bounce-bounce-bounce-shoot.  Bounce-bounce-bounce-shoot.  For 100 minutes.  Every once in a while, the ref would call a penalty but I couldn't ever see why.  And the announcers, whose job it is to tell us what is going on, ignored the penalties and anything else of interest, but when someone would try to kick a goal, they'd get unreasonably excited.  Remember that 95% block percentage I mentioned?  Yeah, let's get excited about 25 attempted shots on goal for every one that goes in.

And what's with the varying clock? Futbol is supposed to be two halves of 45 minutes each, but at the end of each half, four extra minutes appeared on the clock.  The announcers didn't say anything about it, so it must be a common occurrence.  Stupid, but common.

And offsides?  A penalty that has no reason to exist.  The ball is in possession of one team on one side of the pitch and a penalty is called because a guy on the other team is a few inches too far away on the other side.  What the hell is that about?  Maybe they could have fewer penalties and more scoring.

I want to enjoy futbol really bad.  I loved Bend it Like Beckham and She's the Man is a favorite guilty pleasure, but futbol is better in the movies than real life.  Infinitely better.  The sport is never going to catch on.

Speaking of England, I found out two things today I did not know.  They have their own flag.  I thought the Union Jack - you know, the Austin Powers flag - was the flag of Britain.  Turns out, that's the flag of the United Kingdom.  England has their own flag for when they want to shun Scotland, Wales and Ireland. It's a red cross centered on a field of white.  Greedy bastards.  Do they really need two flags?

I also learned that the national anthem of England is "My Country 'Tis of Thee."  I always thought the sweet land of liberty and land of the pilgrims' pride that the song 'tissed about was the US of A, but I stand corrected.

The Best Songs You've Never Heard, Volume 1

A few years ago, I was visiting my sister and listening to some music. As you may have read before, I use a random playlist on my iPod, one that excludes songs that have played in the previous four months. Out popped 'Angola' by Ambrosia, a song I had discovered in the early 2000s when I was filling out my music collection. I was surprised that I could go four months without listening to such a wonderful song. I played a little of it for my sister and regaled her in tales of Ambrosia and its main voice, David Pack. From that conversation sprang an idea for a CD.

My sister's main musical tastes were rather narrow - she was all about Elton John in high school and college, then slid over to country as an adult. There are thousands of hours of great music that she has not been exposed to. I decided to put together 75 minutes of good tunes that she hadn't heard but that might appreciate. Thus was born The Best Songs You've Never Heard, Volume 1. The songs are in no particular order and not necessarily the best selection for each artist, but my target listener was a 50-year-old woman from rural Minnesota. It's just a good sample of the wonderfulness of music that is out there.

Update 11/9/11: When you're done here, be sure to click over to Volume 2 and Volume 3.


Ambrosia - Angola (1978)

Ambrosia started the 70s as an experimental rock band but finished a little more conventionally. You've certainly heard their hits 'Holding on to Yesterday' (1975), 'How Much I Feel' (1978), and 'You're the Only Woman' (1980). These songs were written and sung by David Pack, whom you'll hear more about in later entries.

'Angola' is a peppy song, set in the eponymous African country, which, in 1975, was populated mostly by subsistence farmers. The singer, perhaps an American ex-pat, reads the newspaper and finds it amusing to read about people upset about a recession when people in Angola seem happy with minimal creature comforts ("What you call poor, we call prosperity").

After the second verse, lead singer Joe Puerta's perfectly adequate vocals get a harmony accompaniment by Pack's creamy smooth, high register voice (How do you describe David Pack's voice? How do you describe a sunset?) which takes a perfectly good song and turns it into a phenomenally good song.


Kim Wilde - Four Letter Word (1988)

Kim Wilde was a fairly big deal on the other side of the pond in the 80s but only had two hits in the States: 'Kids in America' (1981) and 'You Keep Me Hanging On' (1987). Wilde's voice is kind of weak, even frail, which sounds odd to the American ear, but that trait worked perfectly with the style and content of this particular song, a plaintive up-tempo ballad, making the result somewhat transcendant. In case you're wondering, the four letter word she sings about is, of course, "love."


Steve Winwood - Valerie (1982)

This list was also influenced by a conversation I had with a co-worker, about the same time as my visit to my sister. She mentioned that she had taken a call from a client named Valerie and I off-handedly mentioned that I had two really good songs in my collection named 'Valerie.' I decided to kill two birds with one CD, and share The Best Songs You've Never Heard, Volume 1 with my co-worker, and include both 'Valeries' from my collection.

This version is from Steve Winwood's album Arc of a Diver, which produced the hit 'While You See a Chance.' Winwood gets a little funky here. His signature synth is all over this song and 'Valerie' showcases his high register voice nicely.


Quarterflash - Valerie (1981)

The other 'Valerie' on this list. Quarterflash is often called a one-hit wonder but they had three Top 40 hits and released four wonderful albums. Bandleaders Marv and Rindy Ross are still working today, releasing a CD together in 2008.

Quarterflash's 'Valerie' is no simple song. At first glance it sounds like a college-lesbian experience, but in the third verse, the singer says that Valerie hangs in the student gallery, ala a portrait? I've never put my finger on the true meaning; I just like the song.


Susan Tedeschi - Alone (2002)

Susan Tedeschi is kind of like a female David Pack, with a beautiful, distinctive voice. 'Alone' is a soulful, hopeful pop song - complete with horns - featuring incredibly smooth, powerful vocals. Her normal style is the Blues and she does them well, but with 'Alone,' she's playing above her normal level.


Debbie Gibson - Think with Your Heart (1995)

Debbie Gibson had her biggest success before she was old enough to vote. Maybe because of her bubblegum princess image, she received no attention from the music-loving public after 1991. Shame. I have all of her albums and while I may quibble over some of her song choices and even her musical direction, I will never say anything bad about her voice. 'Think with Your Heart' is maybe the best example of Debbie's great voice. A simple piano ballad with strings, this song rates among the best songs ever recorded.


The Derek Trucks Band - I Wish I Knew (How It Would Feel to be Free) (2006)

I slept late on March 25, 2006. 7:46AM on a Saturday is late for me. When I got up, I walked through the kitchen and turned on the radio. I listen exclusively to National Public Radio's morning programs, which usually consist of newsmakers being interviewed by deep voiced, serious journalists. Stereotype aside, what came out of my radio that morning was anything but a stolid interview. My speakers erupted with a screaming slide guitar solo that went on for a good minute, then more of a song, the likes of which I had never heard before.

'I Wish I Knew (How It Would Feel to be Free)' is pretty much a negro spiritual (is that still a term I'm allowed to use?), but was written in 1967. The DTB version adds a powerful blues style to the spirituality and rocks out.

Not all of The Derek Trucks Band's music is to my taste but 'I Wish I Knew (How It Would Feel to be Free)' certainly is. I now have five different versions by DTB in my collection, including the NPR version that ripped up my speakers on that fateful day in 2006.


Deadstar - Run Baby Run (1999)

Deadstar is an Australian band that had modest, if any, success in their homeland and almost zero in the States. This song came to my attention on the soundtrack of Drive Me Crazy in 1999. Deadstar's lead singer has a very sweet voice, and 'Run Baby Run' is a gentle, even soothing ballad.


Gjallarhorn - Goddess of Spring (2000)

I accidentally discovered Gjallarhorn one day in 2001 when KTCA ran a live performance of 'Goddess of Spring' between requests for money. Gjallarhorn is a band from Finland that sings in Swedish and plays in a traditional folk style. 'Goddess of Spring' is a an uptempo song that blends traditional with amplified instruments and I swear there is an Australian didgeridoo in the mix as well. A very pleasing song, even if I can't understand a word they're saying.


David Pack - Tell Her Goodbye (2005)

Chronologically, I've gotten out of order, because David Pack will appear later with an older song but if you're listening to the CD, the music flows well with this order.

David Pack is an amazing singer. I could just stop there, but... 'Tell Her Goodbye,' from his first complete album in twenty years, is a marvel. Accompanied only by an acoustic guitar and bass, Pack sings a song with roots in the blues but fits into what some people might call the Smooth Jazz category. Harmonies - fantastic harmonies - are provided by Dewey Bunnell, late of the band America.

Pack's 2005 album The Secret of Moving On is wonderful as a whole; I just wish he'd put albums out more than once every twenty years.


Jim Capaldi - That's Love (1983)

Jim Capaldi did some good group work in the 60s with Traffic and tried for a solo career in the 70s. He never really took off but put out some good material nonetheless. He almost hit it big in 1976 with an up-tempo, happy version of 'Love Hurts,' but had the misfortune of releasing it the same time that Nazareth released their downbeat, power-ballad version.

'That's Love' is your basic Top 40 pop song, with a clean arrangement and good hooks. Steve Winwood plays keyboards. It is, in my opinion, Capaldi's best solo song.


Rush - Spirit of the Radio (1978)

Once again, I remind you that this list was originally prepared for someone who hasn't listened to rock radio since the 70s and whose interest in rock began and ended with Elton John. This staple of AOR (Album Oriented Rock) radio is a staple for a reason. It's melodically creative, has great hooks, Geddy Lee's extremely powerful, extremely high voice, and lyrics that say something. The commercialization of radio has only gotten worse since Rush recorded this song over 30 years ago.

Rush is an acquired taste so even if you listen to this song a few times it may not grab you. But if you're looking for a kick ass rock song, 'Spirit of the Radio' should get you.

Oh, about the name. It is officially 'The Spirit of Radio,' but back in my musically formative years, I never heard anyone - DJ, friend, stranger - say the title in the right order. I don't think the title is ever mentioned in the lyrics, so for me, and maybe everyone from Southwestern Minnesota, it will always be 'Spirit of the Radio.'


Benjamin Orr - This Time Around (1986)

Ben Orr was one of two singers for The Cars. It's his voice on the hits 'Just What I Needed' and 'Let's Go.' He released his only solo album, The Lace, the year after the monster success of The Cars album Heartbeat City, which included Orr singing the number 1 hit 'Drive.'

Benjamin Orr's solo style was tamer than the new wave-influenced Cars, more conventional pop. You may have heard The Lace's top 10 hit 'Stay the Night.' My favorite from the album is 'This Time Around,' a gentle pop song sung from the perspective of a guy ready to get things right.

[Update 9/29/10: I just watched Fast Times at Ridgemont High again and was reminded that Benjamin Orr sang lead on The Cars song 'Moving in Stereo.'  It's his voice you hear during the infamous Phoebe Cates bikini scene.]


Bob Welch - Lose Your... + Carolene (1977)

Bob Welch was the singer and guitar player for Fleetwood Mac before Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham joined, so he's not very well known. A lot of his songs tend to sound alike, which is to say the songs feature his voice and guitar and no real frills. This is actually a good thing.

The year that Fleetwood Mac had their unprecedented success with Rumours, Welch released a little album called French Kiss. It had two hits, 'Sentimental Lady' and 'Ebony Eyes.' The remainder of the album was solid, if not terribly innovative. I pick 'Carolene' as the best of the non-hits.

Welch had a small theme in French Kiss. The last song of side one was 'Lose My Heart.' The last song on side two was 'Lose Your Heart.' Wedged in between the other four songs on side two, there was a 42-second teaser called 'Lose Your...' leading into 'Carolene.' Technically, 'Carolene' is a stand-alone song but I can't listen to one without the other.


Charlotte Grace - Picture of You (1998)

Like Deadstar, Charlotte Grace is an Australian who had no success in the States, and whom I found on the Drive Me Crazy soundtrack. I had to buy my copy of this song from a guy in Australia. Worth it. 'Picture of You' is pretty much a perfect song.


David Pack - Anywhere You Go (1985)

This is Pack's third entry on this list, if you include his backing vocals and songwriting on 'Angola.' 'Anywhere You Go' is the title track on Pack's first solo LP. It didn't sell terribly well - I didn't even buy mine at first - I took home a demo copy from the radio station I worked at in 1985 and I haven't stopped listening yet. I've since upgraded to a CD purchased at retail.

'Anywhere You Go' is my favorite song from the album but just barely. It's safe to say this song is a ten while all the other songs are nines.

Pack made a Grammy-winning career out of producing other artists and by listening to the Anywhere You Go album, you'll hear why. The songwriting is top notch, the sound is smooth and the music is played by virtuosos at their peak.


Deborah Gibson - I Can't (1997)

Debbie Gibson couldn't buy a hit in the 1990s or 2000s, but she hit a creative zenith with 1997's Deborah. Ten years after the pop perfection of Out of the Blue, she released an album with soulful maturity. Her songwriting had improved and her production was lush. 'I Can't' was one of maybe three songs that deserved to be hits, but alas, they ended up being some of the best songs you've never heard.


Shannon Curfman - I Don't Make Promises (I Can't Break) (1999)

Shannon Curfman's first album, Loud Guitars, Big Suspicions, was released in September, 1999. She received immediate acclaim by blues fans, complimenting the richness of her voice - comparing her to Bonnie Raitt and Sheryl Crow - and her lightning in a bottle guitar playing.

Shannon was born in 1985. The year the album came out was 1999!  Loud Guitars, Big Suspicions was recorded when she was 13; released when she was 14. It sounds, however, from start to finish, like she was a journeyman blues player.

I saw Shannon play 'I Don't Make Promises (I Can't Break)' on a morning news show in 2000 and was blown away by the great music coming out if the teenybopper. I immediately bought the CD and still listen to songs from it as often as possible.


Toto - Rockmaker (1978)

Toto is one of the most amazing bands in music history. Saleswise, they peaked with 1982's Grammy winner for Album of the Year, Toto IV, and Song of the Year, 'Rosanna.' However, they put out consistently good music until they dissolved the band last year.

Toto's first album produced the classic rock hit 'Hold the Line,' which deservedly gets a lot of attention, but 'Rockmaker' was really the sign of Toto to come. Great songwriting, smooth vocals and the balance of Jeff Porcaro's drums, David Paich's keyboards and Steve Lukather's guitars. That formula produced dozens of great songs for Toto over the years.

[Update 9/28/10: I see the potential for confusion about the lead singers of Toto.  They've had, by my count, 10 lead singers on their 14 albums, usually 3-4 singers per album.  The lead singer of 'Rockmaker' is David Paich.  He was also the singer on Toto's megahit 'Africa.'  He is not the lead singer on the familiar hits 'Hold the Line,' 'Rosanna,' 'I'll Be Over You' or '99.'


The Best Songs You've Never Heard, Volumes 2 and 3 are ready to go, but neither of the recipients of Volume 1 has asked for them. I'll post the song lists for Volumes 2 and 3 sometime in the near future. If you want to hear The Best Songs You've Never Heard, Volume 1 and actually know me, I'll be happy to share a CD with you. Just ask.