Top 20 1980s Movie Soundtrack Songs

The 1980s were the proverbial Golden Age of movie soundtracks.  It seemed like every big movie in the '80s was accompanied by a hit soundtrack.  While listening to the VJ Big 40 on SiriusXM a few weeks back, I was blown away by the number of songs in the countdown that were from movie soundtracks.  From that realization came the idea for this blog post.

Here is my list of the Top 20 songs from movie soundtracks from the '80s.  To qualify for the list, the song had to be specifically written and recorded for the film in question and it had to be featured in the film. I made one minor exception to those qualifications, which we will discuss when we get to #9.  These qualifications unfortunately exclude gems like "In Your Eyes" by Peter Gabriel. While the song was prominently featured in an iconic scene in Cameron Crowe's 1989 film "Say Anything...", it was recorded for Gabriel's monster 1986 album So and it was released as a single and charted in that year, a few years before it appeared in the film.

So (pun intended), here we go.  Here is my list of the Top 20 Songs from '80s Movie Soundtracks.

20. Song: "She's Like the Wind"

Artist: Patrick Swayze
Songwriter(s): Patrick Swayze, Stacy Widelitz
Movie: Dirty Dancing (1987)

Peak Chart Position: #3 in the U.S. Billboard Hot 100

Comments: The first of three entries from the Dirty Dancing soundtrack, this ballad was written and performed by the main star of the film, Patrick Swayze. It was actually written for a different '80s movie, Grandview U.S.A. but it didn't make the cut. Given that, as a result of this song and his role in the film, Swayze could be considered a singer, songwriter, actor and dancer - a quadruple threat. Sure, the song may be a little cheesy, but it gets bonus points for being written and performed by film's star himself, something that did not happen with many of the songs on this list.

19. Song: "Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now"
Artist: Starship
Songwriter(s): Diane Warren, Albert Hammond
Movie: Mannequin (1987)

Peak Chart Position: #1 in the U.S., Canada, Ireland, Portugal and the UK

Comments: Written by two of the industry's most prolific corporate/soundtrack songwriters, this song marks Warren's first #1 hit on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100.  It's a little sappy and schmaltzy - much like the movie for which it was the theme song - it's also undeniably catchy and a good representation of what the 1980s sounded like.

18. Song: "Purple Rain"
Artist: Prince 
Songwriter(s): Prince
Movie: Purple Rain (1984)

Peak Chart Position: #2 in the U.S.; #1 in Belgium, Finland, Scotland and the Netherlands

Comments: This is the first - but not the last - song from Prince and his Purple Rain soundtrack. A majestic, almost gospel-tinged number, this was the title track. Prince's impassioned, soulful vocals are backed by prominent synthesizers (it was the '80s, after all) and some guitar flourishes that hint at Prince's six-string prowess. While the single version is just a shade over 4 minutes in length, the full album version goes on for more than 8 minutes.

17. Song: "Maniac"
Artist: Michael Sembello
Songwriter(s): Dennis Matkosky, Michael Sembello
Movie: Flashdance (1983)

Peak Chart Position: #1 in the U.S. and Canada

Comments: Sembello's lone hit single in a lengthy career as a performer, songwriter and producer is a pulsating, up tempo number drenched in the synthesizers and electronic drums that ruled pop music in the '80s. This song is an example of the power of MTV in the early '80s as the song's video - which prominently featured clips from the film - helped propel the song and the movie to increased popularity.

16. Song: "I'm Alright"
Artist: Kenny Loggins
Songwriter(s): Kenny Loggins
Movie: Caddyshack (1980)

Peak Chart Position: #7 in the U.S.

Comments: Kenny Loggins was - without question - the undisputed king of hit soundtrack songs in 1980s. As a result, he will appear on this countdown three times with songs from three different soundtracks. This is his first entry on our list and it's also the earliest of the three, serving as it did as the theme song to a movie from 1980.  It will probably forever be linked with the dancing gopher from the film.

15. Song: "Flashdance...What a Feeling"

Artist: Irene Cara
Songwriter(s): Giorgio Moroder, Keith Forsey, Irene Cara
Movie: Flashdance (1980)

Peak Chart Position: #1 in the U.S. and more than a dozen other countries around the globe

Comments: This was not Irene Cara's first big '80s soundtrack hit, as she had previously topped the charts in 1980 with "Fame," the title track to the film of the same name in which she starred. Whereas that song was a post-disco number that represented the sound of music at the turn of the decade, this one helped - once again with the assistance of its video on MTV - solidify the 1980s as the decade of the movie soundtrack. Bonus points for the fact that Cara co-wrote this one, too.

14. Song: "Hungry Eyes"
Artist: Eric Carmen
Songwriter(s): John DeNicola, Franke Previte
Movie: Dirty Dancing (1987)

Peak Chart Position: #4 in the U.S.

Comments: Carmen, who after charting three Top 20 hits in the 1970s, had been nearly 10 years without a hit song when he cut this one for the Dirty Dancing soundtrack. It featured prominently in the film and catapulted Carmen back to fame - and least for a while. While this is Carmen's sole appearance on this list as a performer, it is not his last overall, as he co-wrote our #12 song.

13. Song: "Almost Paradise"
Artist: Mike Reno and Ann Wilson
Songwriter(s): Eric Carmen, Dean Pitchford
Movie: Footloose (1984)

Peak Chart Position: #7 in the U.S.

Comments: When you need a power ballad duet in the 1980s, you can scarcely do better than getting the lead singers from two huge rock bands to cut it.  Mike Reno was the lead singer of Loverboy and Ann Wilson was the primary lead singer of Heart. They come together to join forces in this powerhouse ballad from Footloose. How many slow dances at proms and weddings occurred to this song in the mid-'80s? I'd put that number in the tens of thousands.

12. Song: "The Heat Is On"
Artist: Glenn Frey
Songwriter(s): Harold Faltermeyer, Keith Forsey
Movie: Beverly Hills Cop (1984)

Peak Chart Position: #2 in the U.S.

Comments: It's somewhat ironic that Frey, who wrote and co-wrote a number of hit songs during his time with the Eagles (10 Top 10 hits and 5 #1s) struggled to recapture that success as a solo artist, only to finally ascend to the Top 5 with a song written by other people. With guitars, keyboards and an incessant saxophone hook, this song helped propel the Beverly Hills Cop soundtrack to double platinum status. It became an unofficial theme song of the 1985 St. Louis Cardinals, with a version remixed and released that included audio clips and highlights during the teams run to the NL pennant and World Series.  Since that team remains my favorite baseball team of all time, this song has always had a warm place in my heart.

11. Song: "If You Leave"
Artist: Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (OMD)
Songwriter(s): Andy McCluskey, Paul Humphreys, Martin Cooper
Movie: Pretty in Pink (1986)

Peak Chart Position: #4 in the U.S.

Comments: First heard during the closing scene at the prom in Pretty in Pink, this song became OMD's biggest hit. It was commissioned by the film's writer, John Hughes, who was looking to repeat the success he had with the closing song from The Breakfast Club (more on that later). Catchy and synth-laden, it's a great representation of pop music in the '80s from one of the decade's seminal Brat Pack films.

10. Song: "Danger Zone"
Artist: Kenny Loggins
Songwriter(s): Giorgio Moroder, Tom Whitlock
Movie: Top Gun (1986)

Peak Chart Position: #2 in the U.S.

Comments: While the 1980s is often remembered as the decade of teenage comedies and the Brat Pack, it also boasted its own set of powerhouse action flicks.  Few of those were bigger than Top Gun. It had the machismo of fighter jets for the guys and shirtless oiled-up beefcakes playing volleyball for the ladies.  It was the perfect popcorn flick, complete with a soundtrack to match.  This upbeat, synth-heavy rocker marks Loggins's second appearance on our countdown but not his last.

9. Song: "Cruel Summer"
Artist: Bananarama
Songwriter(s): Steve Jolley, Tony Swain, Sara Dallin, Siobhan Fahey, Keren Woodward
Movie: The Karate Kid (1984)

Peak Chart Position: #9 in the U.S., #3 in South Africa, #7 in Ireland

Comments: This song technically doesn't meet my criteria for the list, in that it wasn't written for The Karate Kid.  It was actually recorded and released in the UK in 1983 as a standalone single.  However, the song wasn't even released in the U.S. until more than a year later - after it had been featured prominently in The Karate Kid. It's use in the song was perfect, with its less than upbeat lyrics about summer intertwined with visuals of Daniel's struggles to adjust to his new life in California. Interestingly, despite its appearance in the film which prompted its U.S. release and subsequent success, it never appeared on the soundtrack album because the band would not allow it. So despite not being written and recorded for the movie and not appearing on the soundtrack, I have included it on this list because its U.S. and international success was almost entirely predicated on its use in the film.

8. Song: "(I've Had) The Time of My Life"
Artist: Bill Medley and Jennifer Warnes
Songwriter(s): John DeNicola, Donald Markowitz, Franke Previte
Movie: Dirty Dancing (1987)

Peak Chart Position: #1 in the U.S., Canada, Australia, Belgium, The Netherlands, and South Africa

Comments: The third and final entry from Dirty Dancing was the biggest hit of the three, as well as capturing an Oscar, a Grammy and a Golden Globe. It effectively served as the theme song of the film, as well as its finale with the long awaited, long practiced dance move in which Jennifer Grey runs, leaps and is held aloft by Patrick Swayze. So popular was the song and that scene, there's no telling how many injuries were treated by ERs around the country from couples attempting to reenact the famous scene. The song also marked Bill Medley's lone #1 hit outside of his work with The Righteous Brothers.

7. Song: "St. Elmo's Fire (Man in Motion)"
Artist: John Parr
Songwriter(s): David Foster, John Parr
Movie: St. Elmo's Fire (1985)

Peak Chart Position: #1 in the U.S. and Canada

Comments: This is likely the least well known song on this list but it's one that I've always liked.  While I have never seen the movie (I was only 11 at the time and the film has a lot of sex scenes), I remember the song well.  Interestingly, while it was the theme song for the movie and the first single from the soundtrack, the lyrics actually have less to do with the film and more to do with a Canadian paraplegic athlete (Rick Hansen) traveling around the world in a wheelchair to raise awareness for spinal cord injuries. He called his journey the "Man in Motion Tour" and that moniker became the inspiration for the lyrics and parenthetical in the song's title.

6. Song: "Footloose"
Artist: Kenny Loggins
Songwriter(s): Kenny Loggins, Dean Pitchford
Movie: Footlose (1984)

Peak Chart Position: #1 in the U.S., Canada, Australia, Colombia, New Zealand, Peru and South Africa

Comments: Kenny Loggins - the '80s soundtrack king - is back on our countdown for the third and final time. It was the theme song to the Kevin Bacon starrer about a city boy who winds in a small town where dancing is banned. It is an undeniably catchy song and it's nearly impossible to not dance a little jig - or at least tap your foot - to the song. In a five decade career that has included 14 Top 40 hits, this is Loggins's only #1 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100. Incidentally, while Loggins appears on our list three times, he also charted Top 40 hits with three other soundtrack songs in the '80s, but those songs didn't make the cut.

5. Song: "The Power of Love"
Artist: Huey Lewis and the News
Songwriter(s): Huey Lewis, Chris Hayes, Johnny Colla
Movie: Back to the Future (1985)

Peak Chart Position: #1 in the U.S., Canada, Australia, Japan

Comments: This song has nothing at all to do with the film's storyline, but it was featured during a couple of scenes during the film.  It was the band's first #1 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 charts - no doubt helped by its inclusion in the biggest film of 1985 - and it remains their best selling single. Interestingly, while the song was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Song, it lost to Lionel Ritchie's "Say You, Say Me" from White Nights, a song that doesn't even make our countdown.

4. Song: "Take My Breath Away"
Artist: Berlin
Songwriter(s): Giorgio Moroder, Tom Whitlock
Movie: Top Gun (1986)

Peak Chart Position: #1 in the U.S., U.K., Belgium, Europe, Ireland and the Netherlands

Comments: Whereas the first installment from Top Gun on this countdown represented the macho, fighter jet side of the film, this song represents the "forbidden love" portion of the story. It was prominently featured during the love scene between Maverick and Charlie...you know the scene...the silhouetted one with the gratuitious shots of Tom Cruise's and Kelly McGillis's tongues. Like the film, the song was a massive hit, becoming Berlin's only Top 10 hit, though it also led to the dissolution of the band. This song also marks the third appearance on our list of Giorgio Moroder, an Italian composer who worked on numerous movie soundtracks in the 1980s - everything from Flashdance and The NeverEnding Story to Top Gun and Scarface. He was the behind the scenes Kenny Loggins, if you will.

3. Song: "When Doves Cry"
Artist: Prince 
Songwriter(s): Prince
Movie: Purple Rain (1984)

Peak Chart Position: #1 in the U.S., Canada, Australia

Comments: Prince's second entry on our list is his second - but not last - from his film Purple Rain. It shows a little bit of his guitar flourish - especially toward the end - but focuses more on synthesizers and drum machines. It sounds very different from his other two songs on our countdown and helps illustrate the breadth and diversity of Prince as a performer. It became of one of Prince's signature songs, topping the charts in three different countries and reaching the top 10 in eight others.

2. Song: "Let's Go Crazy"
Artist: Prince 
Songwriter(s): Prince
Movie: Purple Rain (1984)

Peak Chart Position: #1 in the U.S.

Comments: Prince's third and final entry on our list is, like the other two, from his film Purple Rain. Prince was, by all accounts, a guitar virtuoso, though his music seldom accentuated that fact.  This song, however, is one that does. From the opening organ chords to the screeching guitar solo that ends the song, it is probably Prince's hardest rocking hit song. Guitar riffs and two separate solos remove all doubt about his abilities as a guitarist. 40 years after its release, this tune is arguably Prince's most popular and enduring.

1. Song: "Don't You (Forget About Me)"
Artist: Simple Minds 
Songwriter(s): Keith Forsey, Steve Schiff
Movie: The Breakfast Club (1985)

Peak Chart Position: #1 in the U.S., Canada, Netherlands

Comments: An iconic closing song to arguably the most iconic Brat Pack film of the '80s, this was an obvious choice for our top spot.  Interestingly, the song wasn't written by any members of the band and they initially rejected it until lead singer Jim Kerr's then wife, Chrissy Hynde of Pretenders fame, convinced him to record it.  The "hey hey hey" in the song's introduction and the "la la la" sing-along section at the end of the song were both improvised and added by Kerr with the intention of being changed to actual lyrics later on but he was convinced to keep it as. AmericanSongwritter.com has described the song as "an '80s masterpiece" and "an American teen anthem." I agree and that's why it tops our list.

There you have it, my list of the Top 20 movie soundtrack songs from the '80s. Are there any I missed?  I'd love to hear your thoughts.

As always, thanks for reading! 

Over The Hill - Or Just Getting Started?

“Life’s about changing. Nothing ever stays the same.”  - “How Can I Help You Say Goodbye” by Karen Taylor-Good and Burton Banks Collins (performed by Patty Loveless)

 

I recently celebrated my 50^th birthday. In many ways, it’s hard to believe that I’ve been on this planet for an entire half century. In others, especially looking back at the past few years, it’s easier to believe just due to the sheer number of changes that have occurred.

Some of you know to what I’m referring. Others of you haven’t a clue. In short, because of some poor decisions I made in my personal life, my entire world was thrown into chaos. I deeply hurt those to whom I was closest. My marriage ended, personal relationships were damaged – in some cases irrevocably – and I found myself in a place I had never been before: adrift, without a home and wondering if I was a terrible person. I was despondent. I was remorseful. I was broken.

Over a period of several months, I began to find my stride again. This was due, in part, to therapy. The therapist helped me come to terms with my decision-making and to realize that bad choices did not make a bad person. Instead, I was a good person who made some bad choices and I now had to come to terms with that, the consequences of those choices and find a way to move on.

The other thing that helped me was finding a new church. On a whim, I visited a church I’d driven by a thousand times but had never set foot inside. By the grace of God, the church was in a sermon series called “Broken Heroes.” Each week, the series covered figures from the Bible through whom God accomplished amazing things, in spite of the fact that every single one of those people had made terrible choices and carried with them significant personal baggage. It was a God thing – messages that hit me right where I needed to be hit. Through that sermon series and others that followed, God showed me that just because I’m broken, that doesn’t mean that I’m not worthy and that I don’t have value. I could be forgiven and God could take the broken pieces of my life and put them back together and make something beautiful out of it. It was a revelation and it helped me get back on my feet again.

As wonderful as the therapist’s advice and the sermons were, they were still philosophical. I could believe that I was still worthy of good things – despite my mistakes and bad choices – but it was still an abstract idea and concept.  It wasn’t until the summer of 2022 that it became empirical, existential and real. That is when a met a person who was the embodiment of all of those positive concepts.  Somebody who met me at my lowest, accepted me with all of my faults and baggage and showed me that I wasn’t broken, damaged goods. She showed me that I AM a good person who deserves happiness and she accepted me and loved me for exactly who I was.

So, I saw one relationship end and I saw another begin. Changes. I moved into one apartment and then another. Changes. I left one church and joined another. Changes. For someone who has always enjoyed consistency and constants – both in my personal and professional life – I was dealing with change in all aspects of my life.

In the face all of that change, what did I do? Well, I decided to throw caution to the wind and quit my job. I left a company and a department I had been in for 22 years and decided to start over again with a new job and a new company. I joked at the time that everything else had changed in my life, why not change jobs too?

In the span of just over two years, virtually everything in my life had changed: my address, my marital status, my church and my job.  At times, it has been absolutely terrifying.  But, you know what? Through all of these changes, I have come out the other side a different person. A braver person. And, at the end of the day, a happier person.

Don’t get me wrong. I have regrets over some of the choices I made and I will be paying for some of those choices for the rest of my life. But I am now in a relationship with my best friend, the person who knows me better than anyone else (besides God!) and the person with whom I can really, truly be my genuine self. We are engaged and will soon be married and I cannot wait to spend the rest of my life with her.

What’s my point? Well, some changes are thrust upon us. Others we choose ourselves. Many changes are hard but, often, they also help you get where you want to be and where you need to be. Five years ago, I could have never foreseen the twists and turns my life has taken. But, through it all, God – and the amazing guardian angel He sent me – have gotten me to a wonderful place on the other side.

So, dear readers, don’t be afraid to make a change and do new things. You never know where those changes may lead you.

I’m 50 and, thus, in many ways, perhaps my best years are behind me. But, with a new relationship and a new job and a new outlook – folks, I’m just getting started!

Ranking the School Nicknames - ACC and SEC

This is the second in a series of posts ranking the nicknames of schools within conferences.  We started out in the middle of the country with the Big 12 and Big Ten.  Now we're going to slide south and east and cover the ACC and the SEC.  As stated in the previous post, the teams included in each conference are accurate as of the upcoming 2023-24 academic year, so if you're looking for my comments/ranking on Texas and Oklahoma, you'll have to go to the Big 12 listing.

Here we go...starting with the ACC, which comes before the SEC alphabetically and which has a better mix of nicknames than the SEC, which is the worst among all Power 5/Power 6 conferences.

ACC School Nickname Rankings

12. Clemson Tigers - Bo-ring. Also, purple?  Orange I can get, but purple?

11. Boston College Eagles - Another lame, too common nickname. Zzzzzz.

10. Louisville Cardinals - Cardinals is not as common as tigers or eagles, but it's not exactly unique, seeing as how schools like Ball State and Illinois State also use it. Demerits as well for using too little red and too much black in their uniform color schemes.

9. NC State Wolfpack - There are four ACC schools in North Carolina and this nickname is the most vanilla of the four.  It's not terrible, but it's not great, either.

8. Florida State Seminoles - As I have stated previously, I'm not a fan of Native American nicknames/mascots.  While most schools who used to have them have since changed to different nicknames, Florida State has been one of the few holdouts.  However, the school has also worked closely with the Seminole tribe in Florida to ensure that the tribe supports the nickname and that it is used in a manner that they deemed appropriate and inoffensive.  There is still controversy surrounding it, as the Seminole Nation of Oklahoma has condemned the continued use of the Seminoles nickname by FSU. I struggled with where to rank this one, so it slides in just above the bottom third.

7. Duke Blue Devils - At first glance, Blue Devils seems like an odd choice for a school that was originally tied to Methodism and The Methodist Church.  But further research indicates that the name was chosen to honor a World War I French infantry battalion (Chasseurs Alpins) who was nicknamed "les Diables Bleus" which translates to English "the Blue Devils."  It has absolutely nothing to do with the university or the area in which it is located, but it's also not overly common, so it comes in in the middle of the pack of ACC nicknames.

6. Syracuse Orange - I struggled with where to put this one because it has its roots in the school's former nickname "Orangemen," which was a Native American pejorative.  The school also used a Native American mascot from the early 1930s until the late 1970s.  The school eventually went with just the color orange, which itself was chosen in tribute to the Netherlands, which originally colonized New York state and the many places in upstate New York that have Dutch heritage. They dropped the Native American references and introduced a new mascot in the 1990s, Otto the Orange, who is an anthropomorphic orange.  It is unique and thus it moves into the top half of our list.

5. Virginia Cavaliers - This nickname has its roots in the days of Colonial Virginia and those colonists who were supporters of the English crown during the English Civil War in the mid 1600s.  Those folks were known as the "Virginia Cavaliers" and the name was eventually adopted by the athletic teams at UVA and eventually the students and alums as a whole.  Very seldom does an American university's nickname have roots that go back to colonial times, making this one pretty unique.  

4. Virginia Tech Hokies - A nickname that made the list of weirdest nicknames in my earlier blog post, this is a nickname based upon a made-up, nonsense word.  The term evolved from a spirit cheer developed in 1896, the majority of which is a bunch of gibberish.  For some reason, the "Hokie" part stuck and the teams were named after that.  Because no one knows what the hell a hokie is, the team's actual mascot at sporting events is an anthropomorphic turkey-like creature, a nod to the informal nickname of the "Fighting Gobblers" that Tech fans have used for their teams since the 1920s.  Whether you call them the "Hokies" or the "Gobblers," it's a weird mascot either way but it's also unique, which puts it in the top third of our list for the ACC.

3. Wake Forest Demon Deacons - Originally, Wake Forest's sports teams were known as the "Fighting Baptists," which might be the coolest and most accurate name in the history of sports. 

However, in 1923, following a big football win, a sportswriter said that the Deacons "fought like demons" and the "Demon Deacons" moniker came to fruition and then stuck.  It's certainly an odd nickname, though it still has a connection to the old Baptist roots of the university.  Their logo, though, can be best described as "angry old man wearing top hat," which isn't as awesome as "Fighting Baptists" and is admittedly a little too wordy to actually use as the name of the teams.

2. North Carolina Tar Heels - This is another unusual nickname that made my earlier list of the weirdest college nicknames. In some ways, this one is similar to "Indiana Hoosiers" in the sense that it's a term broadly applied to the residents of the state, as well as the state's flagship university, but no one knows exactly where the name came from.  It likely stems from the fact that things like tar and turpentine were early exports from North Carolina's pine forests and it was a term that grew in popularity during the Civil War.  It was originally a pejorative but North Carolinians then turned it into a source of pride.  It's unique and has a historical background that dates back to colonial times, so it ranks near the top of nicknames in the ACC.

1. Miami Hurricanes - This nickname made my list of the best overall, so it is no surprise that it ranks at the top of the ACC. Hurricanes is a great choice for a school in a city that has, unfortunately, experienced the wrath of hurricanes over the years. Whereas most nicknames pay tribute to animals or people, this one is an inanimate object but it is certainly still something strong that can strike fear into people.

So there's my list for the ACC.  Now we move into the SEC, which may boast the best football and baseball teams but which arguably has the lamest collection of nicknames of any conference.

SEC School Nickname Rankings

14. Kentucky Wildcats - As I've said many times before, "wildcats" is the most generic, boring, unimaginative mascot possible.

13. Auburn Tigers - Another too common choice, but Auburn gets rated the lowest of the tiger nicknames in the conference in part because they also utilize another too common nickname/mascot with the whole "War Eagle" thing.

12. LSU Tigers - Another tigers and another school that has included the decidedly non-tiger color of purple to their palette.  Small props for the "Bayou Bengals" moniker, though.

11. Missouri Tigers - Yep, yet ANOTHER tigers.  However, Missouri gets the nod over the other two due to the fact that the nickname actually harkens back to the Civil War, as it was the nickname applied to a Union militia that protected Columbia during the war. They were called "The Missouri Tigers" and that helped lead to the nickname of the eventual teams at Mizzou.  And, unlike the other tiger teams in the conference, Mizzou's black and gold color scheme makes sense. 

10. Mississippi State Bulldogs - First wildcats, then tigers (x3) and now bulldogs?  Yes, the SEC has a large number of lame, too common nicknames. There's really nothing more to say than that.

9. Georgia Bulldogs - Sigh.  Another snoozer.  But Georgia gets the nod over Mississippi State on account of Uga.

8. Texas A&M Aggies - I struggled with where to put this one and not because I dislike A&M.  It's more a function of their myriad of mixed signals with regard to the nickname and mascot.  Officially, it is "Aggies" which is about as bland and ordinary as you can get for a college whose routes lie in agriculture (see Utah State, New Mexico State, North Carolina A&T, among others).  To further confuse things, they have a lot of military symbolism (on account of its Corps of Cadets, which is the largest senior military college in the country), but yet their mascot is a border collie named Reveille.  It's all kind of a jumbled mess, so we'll throw it here in the middle of the pack.

7. Ole Miss Rebels - It's unique, but seeing as how it is ultimately rooted in the Confederacy and the Civil War, it's not necessarily a good unique.  Kudos to ditching the old plantation owner Colonel Reb mascot, but I'm not sure what to make of replacing him with a bear and, now, a shark.

6. Vanderbilt Commodores - Finally, we start getting to some good, unique nicknames in the SEC.  Vanderbilt is named after Cornelius Vanderbilt, who provided the lead gift to establish the university.  Mr. Vanderbilt's nickname was "The Commodore" due to the fact that he made his fortune in shipping.  It's unique and historically relevant, so it kicks off the better part of the SEC rankings.

5. Alabama Crimson Tide - Many of the more unique mascots in the college sports came out of sports stories and newspaper articles covering the schools' teams.  This one is an example of that trend, as the "Crimson Tide" moniker first appeared in 1907 in a story about an Alabama-Auburn football game played on a muddy field in which Alabama's crimson uniforms stood out.  Now, I'm not sure how an elephant became their mascot, but...

4. South Carolina Gamecocks - South Carolina's mascot has been the Gamecocks since 1900.  A gamecock is a rooster bred for cockfighting, though my favorite definition of "gamecock" is one I saw on a bumper sticker on vacation in South Carolina years ago:

It's a little weird, but it's certainly unique and in a conference that doesn't have very many good nicknames, it slides in at #4.

3. Arkansas Razorbacks - It too a long time but we've FINALLY gotten to some good nicknames in the SEC.  Having a team named after a bunch of feral pigs is very cool and seems somewhat appropriate for the state they represent, seeing as how feral swine are most prevalent in southern states like Arkansas and Texas.  Arkansas also holds the distinction of being the only Division I program with a porcine mascot, even if it does result in that ridiculous "calling of the hogs" cheer. There's not much to like about Arkansas - certainly not their unjustly boastful fans, most of whom probably never went to college - but I have to give them props for their choice of a nickname.

2. Florida Gators - One of the first things people think about when they think of Florida - after beaches, palm trees, Disney and senior citizens - are alligators.  Alligators are part of the lore of Florida, what with the Everglades and other swamps and fresh water lakes around the state.  As such, it makes perfect sense for the state's primary land grant college to have Gators as their nickname.  The fact that the nickname of the football stadium is "The Swamp" just adds to the equation.  It might be an obvious choice, but it's still pretty perfect.

1. Tennessee Volunteers - Tennessee is "The Volunteer State," so named for their overwhelming response for volunteers to fight in the Mexican-American War in the 1840s.  President Polk requested 2,600 volunteers nationwide and got more than 10 times that many volunteers from Tennessee alone.  With that lineage, it makes perfect sense for the state's main university to christen its sports teams the Volunteers.  It's unique and has historical significance, so it tops the list of nicknames in the SEC.

There you have it! My ranking of the school nicknames in the ACC and SEC.  Stay tuned for another post in the near future where I'll rank the Pac12 and the Big East.  Until then, thanks for reading!

Ranking the School Nicknames - Big 12 and Big Ten

A few years ago, I did a list of my choices for the best, worst and weirdest college mascots/nicknames.  Now, I'd like to take it one step further and rank the school nicknames in each conference.  We will start in the middle part of the country with the Big 12 and Big Ten.

Please note that the teams listed for each conference are accurate as of the 2023-24 academic year. So, Texas and Oklahoma are included for the Big 12 (and excluded from a future post about the SEC) as are BYU, UCF, Cincinnati and Houston. Likewise, UCLA and USC are NOT included for the Big Ten but will be included in a future post about the Pac 12. Also, please note that I'm ranking the school nicknames as opposed to the school's actual mascot.

Here we go, beginning with the Big 12 and ranking them from worst to best...

Big 12 School Nickname Rankings

14. Kansas State Wildcats - As I've addressed previously, "wildcats" is about the boring, most generic nickname a school can have.

13. Houston Cougars - Similarly, "cougars" is generic and too common, as illustrated by the fact that there are two schools with cougar nicknames in the conference.

12. BYU Cougars - Ditto, but BYU gets the nod by virtue of it being older and the fact that there are actually cougars in the mountains of Utah, while there certainly aren't any in Houston...at least beyond the saucy middle-aged ladies who may be having a fling with their pool boy.

11. UCF Knights - "Knights" is another fairly ordinary mascot that shows up in quite a few schools.  It's not as generic as "wildcats" and "cougars" but it's not exactly great, either.

10. Oklahoma State Cowboys/Cowgirls - This is another choice that's not particularly distinctive, though I do think their Pistol Pete mascot is pretty cool.  Deductions too for a gender specific name that forces you to call men's and women's teams by different nicknames.

9. Cincinnati Bearcats - No one really knows what the heck a bearcat is.  Is that the binturong (a mammal native to Asia)? Is it a made-up creature?  Who knows.  It's a somewhat common mascot amongst smaller schools, though less common in the major conference.

8. Baylor Bears - It's pretty generic, though there surprisingly are not very many schools in the Power 5/Power 6 conferences that have this nickname. Bonus points for the fact that the live bear mascots actually live on campus. Also, I'm a sucker for alliteration and there really aren't that many alliterative college nicknames.

7. Iowa State Cyclones - Cyclones is a nice choice for a school in the Midwest and it's unique.  The only thing that keeps it from being ranked higher is the fact that they also use an anthropomorphic cardinal as their mascot, which is somewhat confusing. Still, this is a good transition point for the generic/boring nicknames to the more interesting ones.

6. Texas Tech Red Raiders - Whereas Oklahoma State went with a generic "cowboys/cowgirls" moniker, Texas Tech chose to go with a more specific and mysterious nickname and is all the better for it.  While the "red raider" is essentially a masked cowboy on a horse (think the Lone Ranger clad in black and red), the name has a mystique that puts it a notch above the run of the mill cowboy.

5. Kansas Jayhawks - I'm a sucker for nicknames that are attributable to historical or geographic animals/features that are unique to a particular city, state or region. The "jayhawks" moniker harkens back to the Jayhawker militias from the Bleeding Kansas era of the Civil War, so it's unique and has a historical basis.  While I like to refer to their jayhawk mascot/logo as a dime store chicken, I'll also give it some credit for being unique.

4. TCU Horned Frogs - This one made my earlier list of "weirdest" college nicknames.  On the one hand, it is a tribute to the Texas horned lizard, the state reptile of Texas.  On the other hand, this critter is generally docile and typically only 4 to 5 inches long, so it's not exactly a fearsome mascot, despite the reported ability for some species to shoot blood from the corners of their eyes.  All in all, it's certainly a unique nickname and thus it slides in at the top 1/3 of our list.

3. West Virginia Mountaineers - West Virginia is a mountainous, largely rural state in the heart of Appalachia, so using "mountaineers" as their nickname makes perfect sense.  The fact that, each year, a different student is selected to dress up as the coonskin hat-wearing mountaineer mascot is also pretty great.

2. Oklahoma Sooners - Like Kansas, Oklahoma's nickname has a history tied to the history of the area itself that goes back to the 1800s and actually predates statehood.  In this case, it's a reference to the settlers who participated in the Land Rush of 1889.  Back then, the folks who got to the land first - sooner - were able to lay claim to it, though some of those "sooners" may have played fast and loose with the rules and thus had an unfair advantage.  To their credit, OU has made the most of their nickname by using the "Sooner schooner" - a covered wagon similar to what was used during the aforementioned land rush - as a symbol of the school.  A unique, historically relevant nickname?  Well done, Oklahoma, even if your fight song is one of the most annoying, repetitive fight songs on the planet.

1. Texas Longhorns - As I've relayed countless times before, I hate UT. I hate their self-important fans, their hideous colors and their stupid, nigh on offensive alma mater, not to mention their ridiculous Longhorn Network. However, having said that, utilizing "Longhorns" as their team nickname is a perfect choice that makes almost too much sense.  The whole mythology of Texas is cowboys and longhorn cattle and the Wild West and "Longhorns" helps tie that all together very nicely.  Now that I've praised them for their nickname, we can all go back to hoping their teams lose every game they ever play...

OK, so there you have my rankings of the school nicknames of the Big 12.  Whereas the Big 12 has  several meh nicknames, we're now transitioning to the Big Ten, a conference that, in my opinion, has far and away the best collection of nicknames of any major conference in the country.  As a result, this ranking was one of the more difficult I've done.  One interesting thing of note with this conference is how many of the school nicknames reflect or are based on the nicknames of the states in which they are based. 

Big Ten School Nickname Rankings

14. Northwestern Wildcats - Unfortunately, even in a conference that has a lot of great nicknames, you still have a few duds, none more obvious than this one.  The most academically selective and challenging school in the conference unfortunately has the blandest, most generic mascot imaginable.

13. Rutgers Scarlet Knights - Another conference, another "knights" mascot.  Yawn. They tried to spice it up by throwing the "scarlet" in there but it's still a knight.

12. Illinois Fighting Illini - Unique? Yes. Historically relevant? Also yes. Offensive? Yes, though perhaps not as much as it used to be with the whole Chief Illiniwek dancing thing.

11. Michigan State Spartans - Another generic nickname that, like "Knights" and "Trojans", is used by countless colleges and high schools throughout the country.

10. Penn State Nittany Lions - This is an example of how adding a little local flair can make a big difference.  Instead of going with the generic "cougars" or "lions," they add a nod to the local Mount Nittany, the foot of which is where Penn State's campus is located.

9. Iowa Hawkeyes - This is another mascot that has Native American beginnings (attributable to the nickname of a character from The Last of the Mohicans).  Over the years, however, that context has faded and been replaced by more of hawk/bird connotation. Like many of the nicknames to follow, this one is also based in part on the entire state's nickname.

8. Michigan Wolverines - Michigan is known as "The Wolverine State," though there's no universally accepted reason why.  Regardless, it makes perfect sense for the nickname of the state's flagship research university.

7. Wisconsin Badgers - Similar to Michigan, Wisconsin is known as "The Badger State" on account of some of the original miner settlers in the 1820s and 1830s living in tunnels and abandoned mine shafts like badgers.  As such, it's only natural for "badgers" to be the nickname of the state's flagship university. Wisconsin gets the nod over Michigan in this ranking due to the historical nature of the moniker and the fact that badgers can actually be found in Wisconsin, while wolverines cannot be found in Michigan.

6. Minnesota Golden Gophers - Like our last two entries, this nickname comes largely as a result of the state's nickname itself.  Minnesota is known as "The Gopher State," originally from a political cartoon in the 1850s.  Minnesota gets the slight nod over Wisconsin by spicing it up by adding a color and because I think their anthropomorphic mascot Goldy is just slightly cooler than Wisconsin's anthropomorphic mascot Bucky.

5. Ohio State Buckeyes - Another school, another nickname based on the state's nickname.  Ohio is "The Buckeye State" as nod to Ohio buckeye tree found all over the state.  Choosing a tree as a nickname as opposed to the more obvious and common choice of an animal gives Ohio State a spot in the top 5.

4. Indiana Hoosiers - In my previous blog post, this one made the list of "weirdest mascots." Like most of these, it's tied in to the state nickname.  Indiana is "The Hoosier State", so using "Hoosiers" as the school's nickname makes perfect sense.  What gets a little weird is that no one knows exactly what the heck a Hoosier is and there's no commonly accepted explanation for how that nickname came about. Regardless, it's the historical nickname applied to folks from Indiana, so it has a combination of both historical significance as well as a weird/mysterious origin that gives it a bit of added mystique.

3. Maryland Terrapins - Maryland selected "terrapins" as their nickname after the diamondback terrapin, which is a species of turtle that is native to the Chesapeake Bay area of Maryland. It's a unique mascot that is a nod to the geography of the state, which makes it hard to beat.  In most conferences, it might be the top pick.  But in the rugged nickname landscape of the Big Ten, it's only good for 3rd place.

2. Purdue Boilermakers - Purdue is renowned for its engineering program and, in the early days of the university, its students actually maintained a fully operational steam locomotive.  A 1891 news story following a win by the Purdue football team referred to them as "the Burly Boiler Makers from Purdue" and the Boilermakers moniker became the official school nickname the following year.  The fact that the official mascot is a locomotive called the "Boilermaker Special" just ties it all together beautifully.

1. Nebraska Cornhuskers - Not only is this one the best mascot in the Big Ten, it is probably the best mascot in the country among all major conferences.  Midwestern plains states like Nebraska are often associated with fields of corn and wheat.  As such, the picture of a person husking corn is a fitting image and thus a perfect nickname for a college in Nebraska.  It's topical, appropriate and unique, so it tops the list of nicknames in a conference that has a lot of unique choices.

There you have it: my rankings of the school nicknames in the Big 12 and the Big Ten.  We will continue this theme in an upcoming blog post in which we will rank nicknames for two more conferences.

Thanks for reading!

Musings, Wonderings and Sentiments

It's time for another edition of me offering my thoughts and comments on some topics in the news these days.  Opinions are mine and mine alone. Read at your own risk.

Fox News - Can we now officially remove the word "news" from the title since they have admitted what many of us have known all along: that they were a propaganda organization relaying BS conspiracy theories and half-baked lies instead of reporting on actual facts?  We now know for certain that many of the personalities on the station were intentionally peddling lies and untruths that, behind closed doors, they KNEW were BS?  For all of the Right's finger-pointing that the "mainstream media" is merely a mouthpiece for the Left, the recent lawsuit and related data show that Fox News knew what they were selling was complete garbage and completely false but they knowingly did it anyway.  Millions of viewers ignored countless, obvious factual statements about the election results pointing to the Tucker Carlsons, Laura Ingrahams and Sean Hannitys of the world and saying that everyone else was lying and those three jackals were the ones telling the truth...only to find that those Fox News folks acknowledge that the Trump election conspiracy theories were lies and they kept repeating them anyway.  While I'd like to think that those viewers are intelligent enough to realize that they were snookered and that maybe they should do a little more critical thinking, I fear that will not happen and those people will continue to fall hook, line and sinker for more Fox News lies for no other reason than those lies are in line with their personal biases.  Think about it: we had people attack the capitol and try to overthrow the government based on lies that the people saying them KNEW AT THE TIME were lies?  I know they have to pay a $787 million fine but given the long-term damage they've done to our country, that somehow doesn't seem like enough.  These partisan hacks have done enormous, long-lasting damage to our country by undermining the very bedrock of our government and political system: free and fair elections.  They did that not because they actually believed what they were saying but rather because it paid the bills, albeit with paychecks tainted by the support of bigots, racists and morons.

Transgender Care - Can someone explain why too many state legislatures are spending way too much time on restricting/outlawing medical care for transgender people?  What percentage of people are we talking about here? 1%? 2%?  And yet our state governments are spending hundreds or hours and hundreds of thousands of dollars "addressing" this "issue!"  I will be the first to admit that I don't really understand the whole transgender issue and I struggle with the notion that God created people who have a gender and a biological sex that don't match.  But I'm also not out there advocating for restricting their rights or their access to medical care.  In a country that has so many issues from infrastructure to education to crime, it is appalling that so called conservatives (who purport to advocate for small government) have focused so much time and effort on something simply because they don't understand it and they are scared of it because of that.

Guns and Mental Health - Do you ever notice that the politicians and people who want to argue that mass shootings are a mental health problem rather than a gun problem are the same people that are always trying to cut funding for those very same mental health services?

Crime - In large cities and suburbs across the country, crime is out of hand.  Shootings, robberies, terrible car accidents caused by criminals and things are as bad as they've ever been.  Perhaps defunding police isn't a good idea?  I'm not saying that the police are perfect and that they never make mistakes or employ bad actors, but I do not think it's a coincidence that defunding police and forcing them to operate under an ever more scrutinous microscope has resulted in in more crime and more violence in our cities.

Missouri - I remember when Missouri was a purple, middle of the road, bellwether state politically.  Now it's run by a rural lunatic fringe that spends all of their time dictating what people do in their personal life, cutting funding for everything from schools to public libraries while cutting taxes in a ridiculously ill-fated attempt to make the state more attractive to businesses.  Because what businesses really want to do is relocate to a state run by a bunch of bigots that has crappy roads, crappy schools and that views anything forward thinking as the spawn of Satan.

Cardinals baseball - Gee, who could have predicted that not signing any top shelf starting pitchers and instead sticking with the bargain basement quantity over quality approach might be a bad idea?  I remember back in the 2000s when the Cardinals under GM Walt Jocketty actually tried to win it all every year.  They wanted to win championships and weren't content with just maybe making the playoffs.  It showed in 6 playoff appearances in 7 seasons between 2000 and 2006, advancing beyond the 1st round of the playoffs 5 times and winning 2 pennants and a World Series.  Now, the team hasn't been to a World Series in a decade and has only won 1 playoff series in the past 8 years.  They aren't BAD by any means, but instead of actually aiming for the sky and winning championships, they've settled for merely being competitive while counting the money rolling in from the 3 million plus fans coming through the turnstiles every year. It's very frustrating.

Succession - This must watch show has somehow made millions of people care about a family full of insufferable, rich, spoiled, out-of-touch-with-reality characters who have very few, if any, redeemable qualities.  That is a testament to tremendous writing, storytelling and acting.  There are only 6 episodes left before the show ends and my television viewing will not be quite the same once the Roys exit stage left.

Matthew Rhys - This incredible actor may be the god of TV period dramas.  After six stellar seasons starring as 1980s era undercover Soviet spy Phillips Jennings in The Americans, he is now killing it as the latest incarnation of the titular character in HBO's Perry Mason, set in LA during the 1930s.  While the first season of the show was a little disjointed (despite stellar work from Rhys), the second season has been terrific.

Jeopardy! Hosts - While no one will ever match the wit, wisdom and style of Alex Trebek, it is clear to me that Ken Jennings is a much better successor than Mayim Bialik.  He seems more comfortable and natural in the host role, which is a bit surprising considering their respective backgrounds. Bialik often seems like she's forcing things and trying too hard and she has a weird penchant for delayed acknowledgements to correct or incorrect responses by contestants.  

I think that's it for now. I hope you enjoyed hearing my take on these topics and I welcome your comments if you agree or disagree with any of my thoughts.

Thanks for reading!

5 Best Christmas Songs of the Last 50 Years

Seasons Greetings, music fans and, in particular, Christmas music aficionados.  I'm back with a semi-annual post about Christmas music.  This time around, I'm giving you my Top 5 Picks for the best Christmas songs of the past 50 years.  Why 50 Years?  Well, besides being a nice round number that represents a half-century, I'm rapidly approaching that landmark birthday so this is, in essence, the 5 best Christmas songs to come out during my lifetime.  But "5 Best Christmas Songs of the Last 48 Years" just doesn't quite have the same ring to it, does it?

In order to make the list, the song has to be a new composition, as opposed to a new arrangement or recording of an older song.  In addition, it has to have been released in 1972 or later, though all of these songs are well within that time frame.  The only bad thing about the 1972 cutoff is that it robs of us some absolute gems that came out in 1970 and 1971, including John Lennon's "Happy Xmas (War is Over)", "Feliz Navidad" by Jose Feliciano, Donny Hathway's soulful "This Christmas," and the soft rock perfection of "Merry Christmas, Darling" by The Carpenters.  It's mind-blowing to think that all four of those modern Christmas hits - songs that are frequently played every December - were all released within a year of one another.

Without further ado, here is my list, counting down from #5...

5.) "Christmas in Dixie" by Alabama (1982) - This song, the only Alabama song credited to all four band members, differs from most Christmas songs in its focus on the Southern U.S. and the warmer weather in those parts.  While it makes mention of some northern cities (namely New York City, Chicago and Detroit), it also calls out southern locations like Memphis, Atlanta, Jackson, Charlotte and Fort Payne, AL. The sole country music entry on this list, it features the band's trademark harmonies.

4.) "Christmas Eve/Sarajevo 12/24" by Trans-Siberian Orchestra (1996) - One could argue that this song technically violates my rules about being a new composition seeing as how it's largely based around two well-known traditional carols: "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen" and "Carol of the Bells".  However, the song's mix of orchestral strings mixed with arena rock electric guitars is such a dramatic makeover that it ceases to be its source music and becomes something else entirely.  The concept of the song - which is entirely instrumental and actually based on a true story - tells the tale of a lone cello player playing a long-forgotten Christmas carol on his cello in the midst of the war-torn city of Sarajevo at the height of the Bosnian war.  It alternates between soft and loud sections, the soft sections being string instruments playing "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen" while the loud sections are electric guitars and rock instruments playing "Carol of the Bells."  The overall effect is mesmerizing.  More light show displays have undoubtedly been set to this song over the past 25 years than any other Christmas song.

3.) "Same Old Lang Syne" by Dan Fogelberg (1980) - Some may argue that this song isn't a true Christmas song in the traditional sense, but seeing as how the events the song describes take place on Christmas Eve, I beg to differ.  The song tells a largely autobiographical tale of two former lovers who have a chance encounter in a grocery store on Christmas Eve.  They begin talking and reminiscing and decide to go get a drink to continue their conversation, only to discover that all of the nearby bars are closed.  Instead, they buy a six pack and drink it in the female's car while continuing to catch up on each other's lives.  It's a sad, poignant piece and few singer-songwriters have ever so deftly intertwined music and storytelling lyrics as well as Fogelberg does on this piece.  You can completely visualize what he is describing and anyone who has ever had an awkward encounter with a former flame can undoubtedly empathize with the story it tells.  The song is a soft rock gem that deserves far more airplay that it receives.

2.) "Last Christmas" by Wham! (1984) - In late 1984, Wham! was one of the biggest new wave pop bands on the planet, coming off two monster hits, "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go" and "Careless Whisper," earlier that year. They kept that hit streak going with this upbeat but melancholy holiday number that is the epitome of synthpop in the mid 1980s.  It has been covered numerous times in the ensuing 30+ years, by everyone from Taylor Swift and Ariana Grande to The Backstreet Boys and the cast of Glee, further cementing how catchy and popular it was.

1.) "All I Want for Christmas is You" by Mariah Carey (1994) - I'm sure that many of you had probably already deduced that this song was going to land in the top spot.  Written by Carey along with frequent collaborator Walter Afanasieff, this song became an instant Christmas classic almost from moment it hit the airwaves in the fall of 1994.  It was a global success, hitting the top spot on charts in more than 25 countries, from North America to Europe to Australia.  Most incredibly, the song hit #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 2019, a whopping 25 years after its release, breaking a myriad of records in the process.  What makes it such a great song?  It's an upbeat, happy song that is a mix of various music styles, from pop and R&B to gospel and dance.  Carey's vocals soar and it is has a fun, nostalgic sound where it appeals to fans of '60s vocal groups like The Beach Boys and The Mamas and the Papas as much as it does to modern day pop music aficionados.  It was one of those rare songs that was hailed both by music critics as well as average pop music fans.  It is a modern yet timeless gem of a song and that's why it takes the top spot on our list.

Honorable Mention: "Christmas All Over Again" by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, "Do They Know It's Christmas?" by Band Aid and "Christmas Wrapping" by The Waitresses

Thanks for reading...and a VERY Merry Christmas to each and every one of you!

Concert Review - American Aquarium

This is the fourth in my series of reviews of concerts that I've recently attended.  Please check out my previous reviews of the George Strait concert at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, Turnpike Troubadours in Chesterfield, MO and Randy Rogers Band in Chesterfield, MO

Next up...American Aquarium

Headliner: American Aquarium
Opening Act(s): Mike McClure

Date: September 18, 2022

Venue: Delmar Hall (St. Louis, MO)

Set List:

• Chicamacomico
• All I Needed
• The Long Haul
• Casualties
• Saint Mary's
• Just Close Enough
• Lonely Ain't Easy
• Wildfire
• Losing Side of Twenty-Five
• Wolves
• Harmless Sparks
• Before the Dogwood Blooms
• A Better South
• Six Years Come September
• Southern Sadness
• The Luckier You Get
• Wichita Falls
• I Hope He Breaks Your Heart
• Burn. Flicker. Die.
• The First Year
• When We Were Younger Men
• Katherine Belle

Review: This was my first time seeing this band from Raleigh, NC and I was very impressed.  Lead singer and primary songwriter BJ Barham is absolutely one of the most energetic performers I have ever seen.  He was bouncing all over the stage and seemed to pour every ounce of his energy into his performance and his singing, to the point where he was drenched in sweat by the end of the show.  What he may lack in vocal range he absolutely makes up for in the passion he pours into his music.  The band's setlist list spanned from songs from their newest album Chicamacomico all the way back to 2008's Bones.  While Barham didn't say much during the majority of the set, he spoke for quite a while before playing a solo, acoustic version of "The First Year" and he proved himself an engaging, funny and self-deprecating storyteller.  The background he provided for that song (written about the first year after his mother's death) made the song that much more powerful and poignant.  It was definitely a highlight of the show.

Oklahoma and Red Dirt music legend Mike McClure opened the show.  McClure has had a two decade career writing and performing, as well producing songs for Oklahoma music royalty like Cross Canadian Ragweed and Turnpike Troubadours.  For his 30 minute set, however, it was just him and an acoustic guitar, with occasional vocal accompaniment from his wife.  It was easy to see why he is so respected in music circles.  One interesting highlight of his performance was an alternate version of the Turnpike Troubadours song "The Funeral," which he wrote with Turnpike front man Evan Felker.  

Highlights:  Besides the aforementioned "The First Year," other highlights of the performance were their stellar offerings of "All I Needed", "The Long Haul," "Before the Dogwood Blooms," "A Better South" and "Burn. Flicker. Die."

Lowlights:  It's a very minor quibble, but I was hoping to hear "The World is On Fire." Besides that, it was a terrific show.

Overall TGR Grade:  A