Remembering Doug Hopkins

"The past is gone but something might be found to take its place." - Doug Hopkins

This month marks the 25th anniversary of the death of a talented but tortured musician that marked the end of one of the more bizarre and tragic rock 'n roll stories.  No, I'm not talking about Kurt Cobain.  I'm talking about someone who died exactly four months PRIOR to Cobain.  I'm talking about Doug Hopkins.  While the name Doug Hopkins may not immediately ring a bell, if you are a fan of '90s music at all, I'm fairly certain you're familiar with his work.  Hopkins was the founder, original lead guitarist and one of the primary songwriters of '90s rock band Gin Blossoms.  He was the mastermind behind such huge hits as "Hey Jealousy" and "Found Out About You," two singles that helped propel Gin Blossoms' major label debut New Miserable Experience, to more than four million copies sold.  Seeing as how it's now been 25 years since his untimely death and seeing as how the band is soon going on the road to play the entire New Miserable Experience album live, I thought it would be a good time to pay tribute to a gifted artist whose demons got the better of him at what should have been the pinnacle of success.

Hopkins had struggled with chronic depression since his childhood and, as he got older, he turned to alcohol to self medicate.  By the time Gin Blossoms was becoming one of the biggest bands in the Southwest and was gaining attention from major record labels, Hopkins was a full blown alcoholic.  There were reports that, during the recording of New Miserable Experience, there were times he could hardly stand in the studio.  Hopkins was leery of selling his music to a major label, whereas the rest of the bad was excited by the prospect.  Record label representatives were simultaneously interested in signing and promoting the band while being concerned about Hopkins' mental state.  His anxiety about signing to a major record label led to more stubborn drunkenness.  Eventually being faced with the prospect of either firing Hopkins from the band or being dropped by the label, the rest of the band fired him.  The band and label also withheld money owed to Hopkins until he agreed to sign over half of his publishing royalties.  Because of his dire financial situation (due, in part, to his depression and alcoholism), he had little choice but to agree to the terms.

Several months after Hopkins was fired from the band, New Miserable Experience began climbing the charts, largely on the strength of songs authored by Hopkins.  This success (which resulted in Hopkins being given a gold record for "Hey Jealousy") only caused Hopkins to become more withdrawn and despondent.  In late 1993, he finally sought help for his addiction, but during his early days of treatment, he committed suicide.

Gin Blossoms are largely known for their jangly guitars and hooky, sing along choruses.  But if you dig a little deeper, you'll notice that, beneath the upbeat music and catchy melodies, there are somber lyrics of loneliness, isolation and heartbreak.

For example, take "Hey Jealousy," the band's first hit and one of their most recognizable songs.  On its surface, its about kids out on a joy ride, running from the police.  But a closer listen to the lyrics reveals lines such as "If you don't expect too much from me, you might not be let down" and "Cause all I really want is to be with you, feeling like I matter too."  The narrator is engaging in negative self talk and seeking self worth in the opinions of others, things that are common signs of depression.

Likewise, "Found Out About You," a tune about a cheating girlfriend who dumped the narrator without telling him, paints a picture of quiet sadness and desperation: "Streetlights blink on through the car window/I get the time too often on AM radio/You know it's all I think about/I write your name, drive past your house."

Digging into some of Hopkins' less well known tunes, "Lost Horizons" deals with drinking and an indifferent lover: "Drink enough of anything to make this world look new again" and "She had nothing left to say, so she said she loved me/And I stood there grateful for the lie."  Meanwhile, "Hold Me Down" is probably the hardest rocking song in the Gin Blossoms catalog and it's also one of Hopkins' darkest lyrics.  The entire song is about being alone even when you're at a party surrounded by friends and others ("when you're in the company of strangers or just the strangers you call friends") and it is clearly both an frustrated acknowledgement of his addiction ("I can't remember why I like this feeling when it always seems to let me down") and a plea asking for people to help save him from himself ("When those doors swing open and all the drinks are passed around/Anytime the pickins look too easy, hold me down.")

Considering Hopkins' ultimate fate, the last of his solo compositions on New Miserable Experience - "Pieces of the Night" - is particularly poignant.  It includes the line "But you wanted to be where you are/But it looked much better from afar," which is a bit of Hopkins' career in a nutshell.  He longed to have a gold record but when he finally got one, it was after he was fired from the band and was destitute.  It was reported in a story about Hopkins' life that, upon receiving the gold record for "Hey Jealousy," hung it up on his wall for a few weeks, only to then take it down and destroy it.  Less than two weeks later, he took his life.

While some other '90s musicians who have committed suicide or died due to overdoses (Kurt Cobain, Layne Staley, Scott Weiland, Chris Cornell) have frequently been honored or lauded for the music they left behind, Doug Hopkins has typically been relegated to little more than a footnote in the success of a band that made it big largely on his creative abilities.  His demons deprived him of the enjoyment of that success and it likely deprived the world of more jangly, catchy rock songs.

As I've mentioned in previous blog posts, New Miserable Experience is my favorite album of all time, owing largely to Hopkins' skill as both a musician and a lyricist.  As someone who has dealt with depression and self doubt in the past, I can relate to many of his lyrics, even if I have thankfully avoided some of the demons he wasn't able to overcome.

Rest In Peace, Doug Hopkins.  Your music still lives on and is still appreciated, even a quarter of a century after you headed for that last horizon.  When the band you started tours in the coming months and plays songs you wrote live in concert, you can be assured that sold out crowds will be singing along with the songs you wrote.  Wherever you are, I hope you may get some peace and satisfaction from that.

The 12 Days of Christmas - 2018 Edition

About a year ago, I shared a list of my favorite Christmas songs.  I considered following that up this year with a list my least favorite Christmas songs, but it's really a pretty short list.  Instead, I thought I'd revise my least favorite Christmas song and update it with new lyrics that make it better...and certainly more relevant to the world in 2018.

The song? "The Twelve Days of Christmas."  I genuinely dislike this song.  It's not "Macarena" level hatred, mind you, but I really dislike it.  Why? Because it stinks.  It's repetitive.  It has no chorus and not much of a melody.  It's just the same thing over and over again and the list of gifts that the writer gets from his/her "true love" blows.  Maids milking?  Lords leaping? Ladies dancing?  And what's with all of the birds? Swans, geese, calling birds, French hens, turtle doves, and a partridge?  Can you imagine the stench and racket at your house if those were the gifts you received for Christmas?  And if you're going to give me some birds, at least give me some turkeys or chickens or ducks or something that I can cook and that tastes good.

With that in mind, I present my updated list of gifts to make it more relevant and accessible to folks today.  I've left the repetition and redundant style of the song alone because, while I can sing and make up lyrics, I can't write music or play any instruments.

Here we go...

On the 12th day of Christmas, my true love gave to me-

12 months of Netflix
11 Uber rides
10 crazy socks
9 Amazon gift cards
8 Chick-fil-A nuggets
7 Starbucks lattes
6 pack of craft beer
5 smart phones
4 Bluetooth speakers
3 Flat screen TVs
2 wireless headphones
and a wi-fi hotspot with 5G

Wouldn't you agree that these gifts are a LOT better than a bunch of smelly birds?

I Am Thankful

With Thanksgiving being later this week, I wanted to take a few minutes to count my blessings.  I hope you all will indulge me.

• I am thankful for my parents, who raised me, taught me right from wrong, taught me the importance of God and faith, took us on annual vacations, paid my way through college (so that I could graduate without any student debt) and who are good grandparents to my kids.
• I am thankful that my parents have a condo in Florida - free lodging near the beach! :)
• I am thankful for my wife, who loves me in spite of my faults and puts up with me on a daily basis.  I'm still not sure what she saw in me but I'm glad she saw it.
• I am thankful for my two terrific kids, who are growing up to be young people with a strong moral compass, who do well in school and who laugh at my stupid jokes and lame songs.
• I am thankful for family and friends near and far who support me with their thoughts, prayers, and kind words, not to mention likes on Facebook and retweets on Twitter.
• I am thankful for my job, which has provided me with a chance to provide for and support my family.
• I am thankful for my recent promotion, which will make the support a little easier and will help me (hopefully) put my kids' through college like my parents did for me.
• I am thankful for my house in a safe neighborhood, where my family and I can be outside and go for walks without fear of being robbed or shot or worse.
• I am thankful for forgiveness and eternal life, the former of which I need frequently and the latter of which I look forward to.
• I am thankful for my health and the health of my family.
• I am thankful for my two dogs, Yadi and Mia, who are a furry, adorable and, yes, sometimes disgusting, part of our family.
• I am thankful for Dr Pepper, the most delicious drink on the planet.
• I am thankful for pizza, which can be served in many different ways, all of which can be mouth watering and wonderful.
• I am thankful for indoor plumbing, air conditioning and heating - I don't know how people survived 200 years ago, especially considering all the layers of clothes they wore.
• I am thankful for the institutions of this country which have so far - and will hopefully continue to - reign in the worst impulses of our current president.
• I am thankful to live in a country where I have the freedom to believe what I want to believe and say what I want to say without fear of being incarcerated or executed.
• I am thankful for satellite radio, one of the best inventions ever - copious amounts of diverse music with no commercials!
• I am thankful for digital music and the ability to create as many playlists as possible.  In the '90s, I was the master of the mixed tape (as my college friends will attest) but it's sooooo much easier nowadays.
• I am thankful for ice cream, frozen custard and frozen yogurt - whether for dessert or just a snack, few things beat those cold treats.
• I am thankful for the myriad of sports that are now televised so that I have the ability to watch most of my teams play most of their games, regardless of where they are or where I am.
• I am thankful for rewards programs which have earned me cash back, coupons, free hotel room nights and lots of free Chick-Fil-A. 
• I am thankful for warm pumpkin pie smothered with whipped cream, a wonderfully delicious dessert, even if my wife thinks it's slimy and disgusting.
• I am thankful for a cozy bed - with a Memory Foam pillow and mattress topper - even if it makes it reeeaaallllyyyy hard to get out of bed in the morning.
• I am thankful for those of you who read my blog posts and thus provide me an outlet for my thoughts, feelings, opinions and occasional sparks of creativity.

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

Ranking the One-Hit Wonders of the '80s

Every decade has its share of so-called "one-hit wonders" - songs by a band or artist who manage to produce one big hit song, only to never again duplicate the feat.  However, I submit that the decade of the 1980s had more than most decades.  Many of them were by New Wave bands from Europe who may have had more success in other countries, but only one big hit in the U.S.

With that in mind, here is my ranking of the "one-hit wonders" of the '80s.  For the purposes of this list, my definition of "one-hit wonder" is a band/artist who had only one top 20 hit on the U.S. charts. 

Here we go...starting with the worst "one-hit wonder" of the '80s and working our way up to the best and grouping them into some subcategories along the way.

WHAT WE WERE THINKING?

42. Biz Markie - "Just a Friend" (#9 on the Hot 100 in 1989) - A song by a guy with a speech impediment who can neither sing nor rap.  I still think this song was popular only because it was sooo bad.

41. Toni Basil - "Mickey" (#1 in 1982) - An odd, repetitious cheerleader chant song that is as catchy as it is annoying.  I also blame the success of this song for inspiring one of the dumbest hit songs of all time, "Hollaback Girl" by Gwen Stefani.

40. Musical Youth - "Pass the Dutchie" (#10 in 1982) - Did you know that this song is about passing pot around, even though they changed some of the lyrics to obscure that fact?  I didn't.

39. Taco - "Puttin' On The Ritz" (#4 in 1983) - Did you know that this is actually a cover of a song originally written in 1929 by Irving Berlin, the same guy who wrote "White Christmas" and "God Bless America"?  In fact, when the song hit the Top Ten, it made Berlin (who was 95 at the time) the oldest songwriter to have a song in the Top Ten.  Weird but true.  Maybe Taco would have had more hits if he'd made synth pop covers of more 50 year old songs.

38. Don Johnson - "Heartbeat" (#5 in 1986) - In the '80s, lots of TV and movie stars tried their hand at music.  Of all of those efforts, this one is the worst.  Crockett should have stuck with chasing down drug dealers while driving expensive Italian cars.  These days, he's probably more well known as the father of the cute girl in all of those trashy mainstream S&M movies that I've never seen.

37. Eddie Murphy - "Party All the Time" (#2 in 1985) - Another actor cum singer, this song is marginally better than the #38 song, thanks largely to the involvement of Rick James.  At least this one is a little bit catchy, even if Eddie's singing is about as embarrassing as his acting career trajectory in the '90s.

36. Thomas Dolby - "She Blinded Me With Science" (#5 in 1982) - A bizarre, synthesizer-laden song that occasionally features a "mad scientist" (who was an actual scientist from England) periodically blurting out "Science!"  It's unique for sure but not necessarily good.  This one of the rare new wave songs that was actually more successful in the U.S. than it was in the UK.


I ACTUALLY DON'T REMEMBER HEARING THESE IN THE '80s, SO HOW GOOD COULD THEY REALLY BE?

35. Baltimora - "Tarzan Boy" (#13 in 1986) - This song uses Tarzan's cry as part of the melody. Enough said.

34. Godley & Creme - "Cry" (#16 in 1985) - I remember some of the videos they directed in the 1980s (especially for The Police and Duran Duran), but I don't remember this song.

33. Paul Hardcastle - "19" (#15 in 1985) - I hear this one on 1st Wave on SiriusXM sometimes but, without that, I wouldn't remember this one, either.


FINALLY.  SOME HALFWAY DECENT SONGS THAT I ACTUALLY REMEMBER HEARING.

32. Gary Numan - "Cars" (#9 in 1980) - No chorus and an robotic, expressionless vocal delivery is somewhat redeemed by some catchy synthesizer hooks.

31. Frankie Goes to Hollywood - "Relax" (#10 in 1983) - This one has to be one of the dirtiest hit songs ever, right?  I mean, there's not much subtlety here.

30. Grover Washington, Jr. - "Just the Two of Us" (#2 in 1981) - This is one of the best soft rock/soft jazz numbers of the '80s.  Every time I hear it, I'm transported back to the dentist office where it was piped in for years after its release.

29. Bobby McFerrin - "Don't Worry, Be Happy" (#1 in 1988) - I struggled with where to rank this one.  On the hand, it's a little annoying - almost too upbeat (if there is such a thing.)  On the other hand, it DOES have a positive message and it was the first a cappella song to hit #1 and all of the "instruments" are actually vocals and noises made by McFerrin, which is kind of impressive.  So, we'll split the vote and put it 1/3 of the way down the list.  Disagree?  Don't worry - be happy that I didn't rank it lower.

28. The Vapors - "Turning Japanese" (#36 in 1980) - Technically, this one doesn't meet my own criteria for "one-hit wonder" since it peaked at #36 on the charts, but I'm including it anyway because it was truly their only hit song.  It has a cool Asian guitar riff, which is a plus.  It may or may not be about...uhhh....self pleasure, which is a negative.  If that is, indeed, the subject, it's still nowhere as good as "Blister in the Sun" by Violent Femmes or "Longview" by Green Day.

27. Swing Out Sister - "Breakout" (#6 in 1986) - Did you know that this band is named after a 1945 movie and they chose it because it was the only thing they could agree on - they all hated it.  The song is better than the band's name.  Points for the horns, though.

26. Rockwell - "Somebody's Watching Me" (#2 in 1984) - The verses are primarily spoken by Rockwell, while the chorus is sung by Michael Jackson (with backing vocals by Jermaine Jackson).  It's an odd mix, but it works.  Bonus points for the whackadoodle, horror flick video, too.

25. Chris de Burgh - "The Lady in Red" (#3 in 1987) - Chances are good that you either LOVE this song or HATE this song.  You either think it is a powerful love song or a schmaltzy pile of easy listening crap.  I'm actually one of the few people who straddle the fence between love and hate, so it winds up close to the middle of our list.


FAMOUS STARS WHO ALSO SING PRETTY WELL (or at least better than Don Johnson and Eddie Murphy)

24. Jack Wagner - "All I Need" (#2 in 1984) - Our 2nd entry by an '80s actor heartthrob (and 3rd entry by an actor).  This was is decidedly better than Don Johnson's and Eddie Murphy's entries, even if it is a little schmaltzy.  But, hey, we needed to slow song for the couple's skate at the roller rink, right?

23. Patrick Swayze - "She's Like the Wind" (#3 in 1988) - Another song by an actor and another big hit. This one gets the nudge since Swayze not only sang it but also co-wrote it and it was part of one of the biggest movie soundtracks of all time.


NOW WE'RE STARTING TO HIT OUR STRIDE (pun intended)

22. Michael Sembello - "Maniac" (#1 in 1983) - A big hit from a big movie ("Flashdance"), I dare you to listen to this song and NOT think about Jennifer Beale training and dancing in her warehouse apartment while wearing leg warmers.

21. Lipps Inc. - "Funkytown" (#1 in 1980) - It's got a good beat and you can dance to it.  A good bridge from the disco of the late '70s to the synthesizer-dominated new wave sounds of the early '80s.

20. Matthew Wilder - "Break My Stride" (#5 in 1983) - It's an upbeat, positive little ditty that manages to rhyme "China" and "find ya" in the first verse and "rocky" and "cocky" in the second verse.  It has a nice reggae/calypso beat that makes it unique.  This is probably one of the lesser known songs on this list.  Call it a hidden gem, I guess.

19. Nena - "99 Luftballons" (#2 in 1984) - Two versions of this song were released in the U.S. - one in German ("99 Luftballons") and one in English ("99 Red Balloons").  Interestingly, the German version was more popular, hitting #2 on the charts, while the English version didn't even chart.  Both versions feature prominent synthesizer lines and lyrics about a nuclear war caused by some children's balloons. Yikes.

18. Madness - "Our House" (#7 in 1983) - A fun little working class song featuring prominent horns.  When I was a kid, I always wondered why they'd build their house in the middle of the street.

17. The Dream Academy - "Life in a Northern Town" (#7 in 1985) - A solemn, evocative song with very nice vocal harmonies and a unique structure.  In a time when synthesizers dominated pop music, this song was a nice change of pace.

16. After the Fire - "Der Kommisar" (#5 in 1983) - This is actually an English language cover of the song in German by Falco.  I have no idea what it's about in whichever language it's performed, but the chorus is catchy (Don't turn around! Wha-OH!).  Part of the reason that After the Fire was a one-hit wonder?  They'd actually broken up in 1982, before this song became popular in the U.S.

15. Love and Rockets - "So Alive" (#3 in 1989) - One of the few rock songs on the list, I figured this band was going to be huge.  I was wrong.

14. Kajagoogoo - "Too Shy" (#5 in 1983) - Another new wave, synth pop gem with a catchy chorus.  Come on, you just sang "Too shy shy! Hush hush, eye to eye!", right?  Kajagoogoo had a few other hits across the pond, but this was it for them in the U.S.

13. Devo - "Whip It" (#14 in 1980) - This is undoubtedly one of the stranger songs and videos to ever become a hit.  Who can forget the weird flower pot hats, safety glasses and whip sound effects?  Odd though it may be, it was undisputedly a huge hit that helped define new wave music as the 1970s morphed into the 1980s.


SOME OVERLOOKED GEMS

12. Edie Brickell & New Bohemians (#7 in 1988) - A funky number that sounded different than almost everything else on the radio in the late '80s, it allowed Mrs. Paul Simon to have one big hit before going back into relative obscurity.

11.  When in Rome - "The Promise" (#11 in 1989) - This song is less well known than most of these one-hit wonders, but I've always really liked it.  It was one of the last new wave/synth pop songs of the decade.  It has a good pulsing dance beat and a great chorus with lyrics that say what I had wanted to say at times growing up - a friend who wanted to be more.  I encourage you to check out the lyrics and spin this tune when you get the chance.  You won't be disappointed.

10. The Jeff Healey Band - "Angel Eyes" (#5 in 1989) - This is a song that rarely if ever gets played on the radio on an '80s channel and it's a shame because it is an excellent song.  A blues rock number featuring the unique guitar playing of Jeff Healey (who was blind), the lyrics by John Hiatt are some that any guy who has truly been in love can relate to.  I think it sometimes slips through the cracks because it came out at the very tail end of the '80s and didn't fit into the new wave/synth pop or hair band buckets that typically get airtime when you're talking about the '80s.


JUST OUTSIDE THE BIGGEST HITS

9. Johnny Hates Jazz - "Shattered Dreams" (#5 in 1988) - "You've given me, given me nothing but shattered dreams, shattered dreams, feel like I could run away, run away from this empty heart."  You just sang it as you read it, didn't you?  It's okay to admit it because this song as catchy as heck.

8. The Church - "Under the Milky Way" (#24 on the Hot 100, #2 on the Mainstream Rock charts in 1988) - This song's ethereal, dreamy sound is a perfect fit for the title. It has a little touch of psychedelia in it as well, what with the guitar solo that sounds like bagpipes.  It is an underrated slice of alternative rock in the pre-grunge era of the late 1980s.

7. Peter Schilling - "Major Tom (Coming Home)" (#14 in 1983) - This song is an unofficial sequel to David Bowie's Major Tom character from his 1969 song "Space Oddity."  It's about an astronaut stranded in outer space following an accident.  Sing it with me now: "Earth below us, drifting, falling, floating weightless..."

6. 'Til Tuesday - "Voices Carry" (#4 in 1985) - In the 1980s, music videos and MTV were often a large component of a song's success and this song is a good example of that.  The video, which visually told the story in support of the lyrics about an abusive relationship, was a perfect example of what made MTV great back in its nascent years.  A well-made, creative video that helps to bring more exposure to a terrific song.  Who can forget when Aimee Mann takes of her hat during a performance at Carnegie Hall, revealing spiky hair and a rat tail when she slowly sings louder and louder? This is one of my favorite videos from the '80s, as well as one of my favorite songs from that era.


THE MONSTER, TIMELESS HITS THAT SCREAM "I LOVE THE '80s!"

5. Soft Cell - "Tainted Love" (#8 in 1981) - Did you know that this is actually a cover of a soul song that was originally written and recorded in the mid-1960s?  It was never successful until English duo Soft Cell did a remake of it in the early 1980s, when it became of the first big new wave hits.  The now iconic synthesizer line is instantly recognizable and who can't relate to the notion of a love gone bad?  This is a song that I think was played at every dance I went to in college (which was more than a decade after its release), so it's had staying power for a long, long time. DUH DUH duh duh duh duh duh duh...

4. Dexys Midnight Runners - "Come On Eileen" (#1 in 1983) - It was a unique song with a unique structure.  It was a mix of Celtic folk, soul and new wave featuring prominent fiddles.  It has tempo and key changes, made up words and, in the verses, largely unintelligible lyrics.  The chorus is the singer's attempt pick up or seduce Eileen, while admitting that he's having dirty thoughts about her.  It doesn't quite sound like anything else from the early '80s but it was without a doubt a massive hit.  Also, don't forget about the video, which featured the band singing on a street corner while all wearing matching overalls!  Another indication that it was a timeless '80s hit was that it was covered by a punk/ska band in the late '90s.  In this case, it was Save Ferris and they substituted horns for the fiddle portions and sped up the tempo to more of a breakneck pace. 

3. Tommy Tutone - "867-5309/Jenny" (#4 on the Hot 100, #1 on the Mainstream Rock charts in 1982) - Perhaps one of the finest examples of power pop of all time, this song caused hell for anyone who had the 867-5309 phone number for years after its release, as they would get phone calls with people asking for Jenny.  It was an upbeat, catchy rock number with an infectious chorus featuring the titular phone number. "Eight six seven five three oh ni-ee-yine."  30+ years after its release, everyone still knows whose number that is, which is a testament to this song's staying power.  While other power pop bands like The Romantics had multiple hits on the charts during the '80s, Tommy Tutone was a one-and-done deal, with the band breaking up in 1984.

2. A-ha - "Take On Me" (#1 in 1985) - I really struggled with how to rank these final two songs because they are both GREAT songs and perfect examples of the new wave sound that permeates this list and permeated the radios of America in the 1980s.  This particular song has the famous fast keyboard lines and the sing along chorus that starts low and gets higher and higher until the end of the chorus is sung falsetto.  Even my daughter, who frequently criticizes my taste in music as tween girls are apt to do with their middle-aged fathers, thinks this song is good.  It also gave us what is, in my opinion, the best short form music video ever made.  It features rotoscoping and intertwining live action and animated scenes.  This is another song that illustrated the power of music videos and MTV in the '80s, as it's doubtful this song would be as well known as it is without the groundbreaking video.  Similar to our #4 selection above, this song was covered by a punk/ska band in the late '90s.  In this case, it was Reel Big Fish and they substituted horns for the synthesizer hook.  A-ha has had numerous hit songs in Europe over the years, but this was their only big hit in the U.S.

1. Modern English - "I Melt With You" (#7 on the Mainstream Rock charts in 1983) - Our #1 song is another timeless piece of new wave music and one of those songs that is still played frequently on '80s stations.  Interestingly, even though the song is considered one of the biggest hits of the '80s, it never even hit the Top 40, instead peaking at 78 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1983.  It was, however, a Top 10 hit on the Mainstream Rock charts.  While most new wave music in the '80s was dominated by synthesizers, this one is primarily based around electric and acoustic guitars.  It's officially about a couple making love while an atomic bomb is dropped.  However, you can also interpret the lyrics to simply be about two lovers clinging to one another while the world falls apart around them.  As a testament to the timelessness and status of the song as one of the best of the decade, it has been covered countless times, been featured in multiple movies and been used in TV commercials to sell everything from burgers to candy to cars.  Oh yeah, it was also covered by late '90s band Bowling for Soup.  Not only is this the best one-hit wonder of the '80s, it's one of the best songs from the '80s period.

There you have it - my ranking of the one-hit wonders of the 1980s.  Are there any you disagree with?  Which song would top your list?  I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Until next time, to quote Casey Kasem, "keep your feet on the ground and keep reaching for the stars."

Thanks for reading!

Back to School Again

For most people, the passing of the years is marked by New Year's and the dropping of the ball in Times Square.  However, when you have kids, the passing of the years is really marked by the school year.  That is especially true in the Golden household, where my wife is a teacher.  Every August marks a new school year - a new beginning filled with new classes, new adventures, new problems and new friends. 

This year, my son will be a sophomore in high school, while my daughter will be a sixth grader, her first year of middle school.  For the first time since 2008, there will not be a Golden kid at Fairway Elementary.

The recently passed 10 or 11 weeks of summer saw a lot of changes for my kids.  My son got his driving learner's permit and is learning to drive.  (This may have resulted in a few more gray hairs on my head.) He's also grown about four or five inches this summer.  His voice has deepened, he has hair on his legs and he is becoming a young man almost before my eyes.  My daughter has shed her glasses in favor of contacts.  She looks older just by having done so.  The fact that she now wears mascara may play into that as well.  She is very excited about going to middle school - having her own locker, having different teachers every hour, having better lunch options.

For the past few months, my kids' days have been filled with sleeping in, trips to the pool, riding bikes to lunch, trips to Six Flags and copious amounts of Fortnite.  Daily routines go by the wayside.  Things are relaxed and weeknight trips for frozen custard are common.  In the weeks to come, routines will change.  We will get back to earlier bed times, homework and studying, dance and tennis.  Friday nights will feature quick meals before high school football games.

The calendar may still show the same year, but in my house and in homes all across the country, a new year begins this week.  The 2018-19 school year is upon us.  Here's hoping it is a great one for my kids and my wife, as well as for all of your kids and spouses/friends who are teachers.

Thanks for reading.

More Song Lyrics I Love

A while ago, I did a post on my favorite song lyrics.  As that list was just a small portion of the voluminous number of song lyrics that I love, I thought I'd share with you another edition.  As before, these lyrics may not necessarily come from my favorite artists or my favorite songs, but it's the lyrics themselves that I love.

(Note: If you wish to read my initial list, it was posted on 2/22/17. Feel free to check it out!)

Artist: Pearl Jam
Song: "Black"
Lyric: "I know some day you'll have a beautiful life / I know you'll be a star / In somebody else's sky / But why, why, why, can't it be, can't it be mine?"
Why I Love It: I suspect that there are a lot of people my age for whom this lyric would make their respective lists.  While "Black" was never released as a single by Pearl Jam, this song nevertheless became one of their biggest hits.  Like many of the lyrics I have previously listed, this one deals with the end of a relationship.  Instead of being bitter at the end of it, Eddie Vedder (who wrote the lyrics) wishes his lover the best while still being heartbroken over the end of the relationship.  Aside from being poignant and evocative words in and of themselves, Vedder's delivery in the song are the proverbial icing on top of the cake.  You can almost feel the ache in his voice as he sings the line.  It's my favorite lyric from my favorite Pearl Jam song and that's why it makes the list.

Artist: Turnpike Troubadours
Song: "How Do You Fall Out of Love?"
Lyric: "You bet your heart on a diamond / And I played the clubs in spades / We gambled and lost / Guess we both paid the costs / Look what a mess I have made"
Why I Love It: While this is not one of my favorite Turnpike Troubadours' songs, this lyric is terrific and clever.  Evan Felker, the band's lead singer, primary songwriter and lyricist, has a way with words and knows how to turn a phrase.  This is an example of his skill - in just a few phrases, he paints a picture of a girl in love with a musician.  He deftly mentions all four suits of playing cards and uses them as a motif for a failed relationship.

Artist: Edwin McCain
Song: "Sign on the Door"
Lyric: "We all talk about timing, lifestyles and such / But to a heart that's been shattered, those words don't mean much"
Why I Love It: This song is a terrific blues number that uses the concept of a sign on a door that says "sorry, we're closed" as a metaphor for a person's heart who hasn't healed from a prior relationship and thus isn't yet ready to fall in love again.  The line above in question, however, is more universal.  We've all either had our heart broken or had a friend or relative who has.  And when you are trying to comfort them, your advice may be great, but at that point in time, they are not really in a frame of mind to listen to it.  There's nothing you can say to them at that point in time that will make them feel better.  Most of you have likely never heard this song, but I'd encourage you to check it out some time.  It's one of my favorites by Edwin.

Artist: Better Than Ezra
Song: "Rewind"
Lyric: "Right there a song became a soundtrack for this space in time"
Why I Love It: In my first list of favorite lyrics, I referenced a lyric from the Trisha Yearwood song "The Song Remembers When" and talked about how music can transport us back to a specific place in time.  This Better Than Ezra lyric talks about the same thing - how a particular song can become inextricably linked to an event or place in time.  It doesn't matter if it's been 2 years or 20 years - there is something about the song that fires some synapsis somewhere in your brain and you will always associate that song with that event.

Artist: Goo Goo Dolls
Song: "Iris"
Lyric: "And I don't want the world to see me / 'Cause I don't think that they'd understand / When everything's made to be broken / I just want you to know who I am"
Why I Love It: This one comes from the Goo Goo Dolls' biggest hit song, which was also one of the biggest hit songs of the 1990s.  Whereas all of the aforementioned lyrics occur in the verse or bridge of the song, this one is the chorus.  It resonates, though, because it's so accurate.  I think we all have times where we'd like to be invisible because we don't think anyone understands us or what we're going through.  We're all a little broken and we all want to be loved and accepted for who we are but sometimes that seems impossible and it just seems like it would be easier to slide by unnoticed.

Artist: Metallica
Song: "Holier Than Thou"
Lyric: "You lie so much you believe yourself"
Why I Love It: While most of the lyrics I love are melancholy or introspective, this last one is angry.  I've thought about this lyric a lot over the past two years and how aptly it applies to politicians in general and our president in particular.  They lie and stretch the truth with such frequency that they themselves lose track of what the truth is and what is a falsehood.  Few things in this world bother me more than a liar so I suppose it's only natural that I gravitate toward this lyric.

There it is - my second list of lyrics I love.  I hope you enjoyed it.  Thanks for reading!

 

Make America Hate Again

"Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering." - Yoda

"It is never too late to give up our prejudices." - Henry David Thoreau

Our nation, much like the rest of the world, has a long and ignominious history of bigotry and intolerance.  From slavery to the Trail of Tears.  From "Irish need not apply" to Jim Crow.  From the KKK to race riots in the 1960s.  While the United States was nothing short of revolutionary in its system of government and the freedoms protected, that doesn't mean that our nation is without its faults.

Over the past 50 years or so, things have gotten better.  Overt racism became less acceptable (if not less common) and people learned to live, learn and work next to people of other races, ethnicities, religions, sexual orientations, etc.  However, over the past three years, the tide seems to have turned - and not in a good direction.  The primary reason?  The person who currently resides at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

From the earliest days of his campaign in 2015, Donald Trump made a habit of saying incendiary things and defaming other people.  From asserting that all immigrants from Mexico are rapists, criminals and drug smugglers to calling his opponents "Lyin' Ted," "Crooked Hillary," and "Rocket Man," to stating that there were "very fine people" amongst the white supremacists who marched in Charlottesville to his border security policies, his primary modus operandi has been to rile up his followers by playing on their fears and demonizing those of different backgrounds or political persuasions.  In a sense, he has made saying xenophobic things in public acceptable again and that is NOT a good thing.

(As an aside, during the Clinton impeachment trial during the late 1990s, I recall Republicans stating that Clinton's lies couldn't be tolerated or allowed because it would send the signal that lying under oath was acceptable.  However, many of those same people appear to not have any problem with Trump's antics which appear to send the signal that saying racist things is acceptable.)

Trump's behavior has unquestionably worked well for him so far.  He has appealed to the worst of human kind - our unfounded xenophobic fears - to foment disgust over things people do not like or understand.  I'm not even sure how much of what he says he actually believes but he understands that, like a dog whistle, he can draw people towards himself by playing on their fears, turning those fears into hatred and pushing his followers to act upon that hatred and vote accordingly.  While it has thus far proven to be a successful strategy, it is indisputably a negative thing for our country.  He legitimized hatred, bigotry and misogyny and, at the end of they day, no one benefits from that, regardless of your gender, race, ethnicity or religion.

Thanks for reading.

Best and Worst Sports Stadium Names

I love sports.  I also love "best and worst" lists.  Anyone who has been a regular reader of this blog can attest to both of those.  With that in mind, I wanted to do a list of the best and worst sports stadium/arena names.

Before we get started, let me say that I hate the trend of corporate sponsorships of stadium and arena names.  Some work better than others (those corporate names that are also a person's last name - Busch, Miller, Coors, Wrigley - aren't too bad), but in general, corporates names on stadiums suck.  Aside from generally sounding stupid, they often result in sports facilities frequently changing names as corporations merge, get acquired or go out of business.  For instance, the current arena in St. Louis is now on it's 4th name since 1994 while the arenas in Tampa, Philadelphia and Nashville are all on their 4th name since 1996.  Even worse, the football stadium in Nashville is on it's 4th name since 1999!  Aside from that, I don't understand why corporations spend tens or millions of dollars on having a sports facility named after them.  I mean, Scottrade and Edward Jones both had their names on sports facilities in St. Louis for years and I didn't move any of my investments to either of those companies and I'm sure no one else did, either.

For this post, we're focusing only on "big league" professional sports stadiums and arenas.  We're not including any college or minor league facilities.  Here we go...

Best Stadium Names (in no particular order):

Candlestick Park (1960-2014), San Francisco, CA - The stadium was named after its location on Candlestick Point on the western shore of San Francisco Bay, which was itself named for the candlestick birds that used to frequent the area.  I had the experience of attending a Giants game there in 1987.  While the setting for the stadium was beautiful, the stadium was not.  In spite of the fact that we were attending a game during the middle of the summer, we had to wear coats to the game and still froze thanks to the cool wind that the area is known for.  The game we were at featured a hot dog wrapper that blew around the stadium for several innings.  For the last decade or so of its existence, it unfortunately swapped it's great name for dumb corporate names like "3Com Park at Candlestick Point" and "Monster Park."

Riverfront Stadium (1970-2002), Cincinnati, OH - The stadium, which was located on the banks of the Ohio River in downtown Cincinnati, was appropriately named for its location.  The stadium itself was one of the multitude of multipurpose cookie cutter concrete bowls that sprouted up all over the country in the 1960s and 1970s, so it was pretty nondescript.  But I always loved the name.  Unfortunately, toward the end of its run, it succumbed to the corporate name craze, being changed to "Cinergy Field" from 1996-2002 after Cincinnati-based energy company Cinergy.

Three Rivers Stadium (1970-2000), Pittsburgh, PA - Like the preceding stadium, the actual facility was another faceless cookie cutter stadium.  But also like the first two stadiums, it had a unique name inspired by the physical location of the stadium.  In this case, the stadium was situated in Pittsburgh at the confluence of the Allegheny and Monongahela Rivers where they form the Ohio River. Unlike the first two stadiums on the list, this one never had a corporate name and stuck with its wonderful moniker throughout its 30 year existence.

Mile High Stadium (1948-2000), Denver, CO - Unlike the first three stadiums on our list, this one is nowhere near a body of water.  Rather it is named after its location in Denver, which is nicknamed the Mile High City.  The name was so good that they tried to maintain a part of it in the stadium that replaced it, in spite of stupid corporate names (Invesco Field at Mile High and then Sports Authority Field at Mile High).

Checkerdome (1977-1983), St. Louis, MO - Perhaps I'm biased, but this is one of the few times when a corporate name tie-in was kind of cooler than the original name.  The St. Louis Arena was the premier indoor sports facility in St. Louis from 1929 until the mid 1990s.  For all but 6 years of its existence, the venerable old barn (literally - it was built as the permanent home of the National Dairy Show) was called the St. Louis Arena.  But from 1977-1983, the arena and the Blues were owned by Ralston-Purina and it was renamed the "Checkerdome" as an homage to Purina's well known checkerboard logo.  Once Purina decided to sell the building and the team, it reverted back St. Louis Arena.

SkyDome (1989 - present), Toronto, Ontario - When this stadium opened in 1989, it was groundbreaking.  It was a retractable roof dome that featured a Hard Rock Cafe and a hotel.  It was the most cutting edge facility, so the name SkyDome was fitting.  Unfortunately, in 2005, the naming rights were sold to Rogers Communications and the name was changed from SkyDome to the decidedly less cool Rogers Centre (see worst names section below).

Saddledome (1983 - present), Calgary, Alberta - This arena got its name based upon it's unique saddle shape, which was, in turn, influenced by its location on the Calgary Stampede grounds.  It was built in the early 1980s as a new home for the Calgary Flames and to host the hockey and ice skating
events in the 1988 Winter Olympics.  While it has had some lame corporate sponsorships over the years (Canadian Airlines, Pengrowth and Scotiabank), the have always kept "Saddledome" as part of the name.  There is talk of replacing this arena sometime in the near future, but until then we can only hope that that the current building maintains its cool name.

Northlands Coliseum (1974 - 2018), Edmonton, Alberta - Sticking with the Canadian province of Alberta, we move a few hours further north to Edmonton, which is the city furthest north to have one of the "big 4" pro sports teams.  This, of course, means that the name Northlands Coliseum fits perfectly, though it's actually named after the Northlands entertainment complex of which it is a part.  The arena had several lame corporate names over its existence (Skyreach Centre and Rexall Place among them), but it reverted back to this unique name back in 2016.  Unfortunately, the Oilers have moved to a new arena with the terribly common name of Rogers Place (see worst names section below.)

Astrodome (1965 - present), Houston, TX - Known as the so called "Eighth Wonder of the World" when it opened, the Astrodome was the world's first domed stadium.  It was a modern, cutting-edge facility that was given the oh so appropriate name of the "Astrodome", which was also a nod to Houston's importance to NASA and America's space industry.  The first dome also led to the first artificial grass playing surface which was, of course, named AstroTurf.

Madison Square Garden (1964 - present), New York, NY - It's the most famous arena in the world and it's actually the fourth arena to bear this name.  The first two (built in 1879 and 1890) were located in Madison Square in Manhattan.  The third (built in 1925) was located further uptown, while the current facility is situated above Pennsylvania Station in Midtown Manhattan.  The "garden" name later inspired the name of the Boston Garden.  The building has never had a corporate name; rather, the MSG become the name of a corporation and a broadcasting network.

Polo Grounds (1890 - 1963), New York, NY - Staying in The Big Apple, this venerable stadium was site of Bobby Thomson's "Shot Heard 'Round the World" in 1951 as well as Willie Mays's incredible over the shoulder catch in the 1954 World Series.  The stadium was built on the site of a former polo field which gave it its unique name and was known for its distinctive bathtub shape with short distances down the lines (279 to left and 258 to right) but extremely deep distances to CF (483 feet).  It served as the home of the New York Giants (both baseball and football), the New York Yankees and the New York Mets before being demolished in the mid 1960s.

Oriole Park at Camden Yards (1992 - present), Baltimore, MD - The landmark retro ballpark that marked the end of the multipurpose cookie cutter stadium era and ushered in the era of retro ballparks. It has a simple name that reflects both the name of the team that plays there as well as its location at site of the old Camden Station rail yards.  Thankfully, unlike most of the new "retro" stadiums that followed in its wake, this gem has kept its non-corporate name throughout its existence.


Worst Stadium Names (in no particular order):

PSINet Stadium (1998 - present), Baltimore, MD - Just a short distance from Oriole Park at Camden Yards is the football stadium in Baltimore.  Initially, it was called Ravens Stadium at Camden Yards, keeping with the same naming convention used with the baseball stadium.  Unfortunately, they then went the corporate route and changed it to PSINet Stadium after PSINet, one of the first Internet Service Providers.  Within 2 years, the company went bankrupt, so I suppose the idea that this naming right would help the profile of the company didn't work out so well.  Unfortunately, the stadium wound up with another lame corporate name - M&T Bank Stadium. The Ravens team name is awesome - seeing as how it is a tribute to Edgar Allen Poe and his poem "The Raven" - but the stadium name stinks.

Anything with AT&T in the Name - There's AT&T Stadium in Arlington, TX.  There's AT&T Center in San Antonio, TX.  There's AT&T Park in San Francisco, CA.  Three different facilities - one for football, one for basketball and one for baseball - all with, essentially, the same name.  Any way you slice it, it's dumb.  And has anyone actually switched to AT&T from another provider because of it?  I think not.

Anything with Rogers in the Name - This is the Canadian equivalent of the AT&T thing.  There's Rogers Centre in Toronto. There's Rogers Place in Edmonton.  There's Rogers Arena in Vancouver.  Three different facilities all with, essentially the same name.  Boring and dumb.

Sleep Train Arena (1988-2016), Sacramento, CA - As I stated earlier, corporate names suck.  Some are just worse than others.  This is one of the worst.  Do I really need to elaborate?  By the way, do you want to know what this arena was called before this? The Power Balance Pavilion. Yuck.  They should have gone with "Capitaldome" or something playing up Sacramento's role as the capital of the country's most populous state.

Vivint Smart Home Arena (1991 - present), Salt Lake City, UT - This is another arena that has had a corporate name throughout its history, though the names just keep getting worse.  First, it was Delta Center, which isn't terrible.  Then it was EnergySolutions Arena after a nuclear waste company.  Since 2015, it has borne its current ridiculous name due to a naming rights deal with a home security company.

Guaranteed Rate Field (1991 - present), Chicago, IL - Originally known as New Comiskey Park or Comiskey Park II, it was known as US Cellular Field for 13 years before switching to this horrendous name in late 2016.  Named after a Chicago-based mortgage company that probably none of you have heard of, this has to rank as one of the worst stadium names.  In a city as diverse and exciting as Chicago, it's a shame that this is, apparently, the best that the White Sox could do. 

St. Pete Times Forum (1996 - present), Tampa, FL - This name is bad for several reasons.  First of all, it was named after a newspaper.  At a time when newspapers are struggling to survive, who thought it was a good idea to spend millions on a naming rights deal?  Even worse, it's named after the paper in St. Petersburg when the arena is in Tampa!  To be fair, they did change the name to Tampa Bay Times Forum (which is at least more accurate) in 2012 before changing it to Amalie Arena (after an oil company) in 2014.

KFC Yum! Center (2010 - present), Louisville, KY - A beautiful arena in a terrific location (right on the Ohio River in downtown Louisville) with a stupid, stupid name.  The KFC abbreviation would be bad enough, but adding the Yum and the "!" to it just makes it even worse.  Something like "Riverfront Coliseum" would have been great.  Or how about the "Kentucky Bourbon Barn?"

Smoothie King Center (1999 - present), New Orleans, LA - Of all of the dumb corporate names of sports facilities, this one takes the cake.  Do I even need to explain any further?  New Orleans is a festive place characterized by all manner of debauchery and lasciviousness, so having an arena named after a healthy, wholesome beverage purveyor just doesn't seem right.  How about "Laissez  Les Bon Temps Rouler Center?"

Just Because

• Just because you disagree with something...that doesn't mean that it should be illegal.
• Just because you disagree with a person's religion or beliefs or lifestyle...that doesn't mean you shouldn't still treat that person with respect and kindness. A little kindness can go a long way.
• Just because you are having a bad day...that doesn't give you permission to ruin someone else's.
• Just because something is right for you...that doesn't mean that it is right for someone else.
• Just because you may not like what someone says about you...that doesn't mean it isn't true.
• Just because you may not like what someone reports about you or about an issue...that doesn't make it false or "fake news".
• Just because a talking head said it on TV or the radio...that doesn't make it true. Think for yourself!
• Just because someone supports Democrats...that doesn't make them a Socialist or a Communist.  They may just support a different role of government than you do.
• Just because someone supports Republicans...that doesn't make them a racist who hates poor people or minorities and just loves money.  They may just support a different role of government and personal responsibility than you do.
• Just because someone has a college education and a good job that pays well...that doesn't mean that they were born with a silver spoon in their mouth.  You have no idea what they did in order to get through college and get to where they are in their career.
• Just because someone doesn't have a college degree...that doesn't mean they are lazy or stupid.  We all have different talents and skills and a college degree may not be the right path for everyone.
• Just because a movie or a song is popular or makes a lot of money...that doesn't necessarily mean it's good.
• Just because a movie or song or band isn't popular or makes a lot of money...that doesn't mean it's bad.  Some of the best movies I've seen and best music I've heard is completely unfamiliar to most people.
• Just because a person is from one of the coasts...that doesn't mean that they are a snooty, godless, elite.
• Just because a person is from "flyover country" or the South...that doesn't mean that they are an ignorant yokel who "clings to their God and their guns."
• Just because someone is vulnerable...that doesn't mean that you should take advantage of them.
• Just because someone appears to be happy...that doesn't mean that they aren't battling depression.
• Just because you failed before...that doesn't mean you should stop trying.
• Just because something happened before...that doesn't mean it will happen again.
• Just because you can...that doesn't mean that you should.

Parental Worries

A big part of being a parent is worrying.  From the moment you find out that you're pregnant (and by you're I'm referring jointly to both mom and dad) until, presumably, you die, you worry about your kids.  It's just that over time, what you worry about changes.  I was reminded of this again last week when my son got his learner's permit and this past weekend, when I took him for his first driving lesson.

When you're pregnant, you worry about having a healthy baby.  That you won't have a miscarriage.  That your baby will have ten fingers and toes, etc.  Pregnant women spend large amounts of money on prenatal vitamins and healthy eating and forego some of the other things they enjoy (caffeine, alcohol, etc.) to, in part, ensure that they have a healthy baby.  Once the baby is here and he or she is healthy and they do, in fact, have the requisite number of fingers and toes, you worry about them hitting all of the milestones they are supposed to hit as infants and then toddlers.  Reaching for things.  Rolling over on their own.  Pulling themselves up.  Walking. Crawling.  All of those things that show up in books like "What to Expect During the First Year."

Once you get past those hurdles, you start to be more concerned with their cognitive abilities and social skills.  Are they learning their colors and letter and numbers?  Are they able to get along with other kids and make friends?  Will they be ready for kindergarten when they are 5?  Parents worry about all of these things often.  Meanwhile, their little ones are oblivious to mom and dad's concerns and are instead focused on playing and exploring.

As their kids move on through elementary school and into middle school and high school, parents start to worry about their kids making friends with "good kids" and not fall in with the "wrong crowd."  Parents worry about their kids getting into booze or drugs.  As kids sometimes get sullen in their teenage years and less willing to communicate with their parents, parents thus worry about what is going on in their kids' heads.  Are they happy? Struggling with depression?

As things move on in their high school years, kids (and their friends) start driving and parents start worrying about car accidents and just hoping that their kids make it back home alive every night.  And they worry about their kids graduating from high school and then moving on to college or the military or a trade school.  Often, those options involve the kid being far from home.  For those first 18 years, parents worry about their kids even when they are all under the same roof.  So how much worse is it when the kid goes away to college or joins the military?  Out of sight certainly doesn't mean out of mind.

Even as the kids move on into adulthood, parents still worry about their kids.  Will they graduate from college?  Will they be able to get and keep a job?  Will they find that special someone and start a family of their own?

So, from conception until death (or dementia), parents worry about their kids.  What they worry about changes over time, but the worry is always there.

Having said that, you may wonder why anyone would even WANT to be a parent?  Why put yourself through all of those worries if you don't have to?  Because with those worries come so much joy and so many rewards.  Few things are better than seeing your kids happy and successful.  When they get an A on that test they've studied so hard for.  When they get that big hit to win the game. When they get asked to that dance at school.  When they make good decisions on their own and display the morals and beliefs you have worked so hard to instill in them. When they put on that cap and gown and walk across that stage or when they walk down that aisle.  Invariably, every parent sees some of themselves in their child and when they see that child happy or successful, it makes them feel happy and successful.  And, believe it or not, those moments make all those years of worry worth it.

Thanks for reading.

Same Title, Different Song

As I was scrolling through my playlist the other day, I noticed that I had several songs that had the same title but were completely different songs by completely different artists.  I then started thinking how those songs compared to one another - their similarities, differences and musical styles.  Of course, as I'm apt to do, I decided to make a blog post about this.

Here are the rules:
1.) The songs must have the same title but not the same lyrics.  No remakes or covers allowed!
2.) The songs must have been recorded and included on a album that was released by a record label. No unrecorded songs allowed.
3.) The songs are listed in rough chronological order based on the release date of the album on which the song was initially included.

Most of these songs - but not all of them - are on my playlist.

Here we go...

Song Title: "Dreams"

Artist #1: Fleetwood Mac (1977) - This song was the second single from Fleetwood Mac's monster album, Rumours, an album that has sold more than 20 million copies in the U.S. and more than 40 million copies worldwide.  Interestingly, this song is the only Fleetwood Mac song to top the
Billboard 100 charts and it is, without a doubt, one of their most famous songs.  The "thunder only happens when it's raining" line in the chorus is iconic and I remember by parents listening to it when I was a kid.  Stevie Nicks wrote and sang the song and, like most of the songs on Rumours, it deals with the end of a relationship.  It's really a kiss off to a former lover who the singer opines will regret their decision to end the relationship.  A steady drum beat and bass line propel the song, which is why it's on the playlist I use when going for a run.  The song also includes the great line "players only love you when they're playing." Stevie has a way with words, doesn't she?  TGR Grade: A

Artist #2: Van Halen (1986) - This song was the second single from Van Halen's album 5150, which was their first album after replacing lead singer David Lee Roth with Sammy Hagar.  This song is decidedly more upbeat than the aforementioned song, both musically and lyrically.  Where Fleetwood Mac's "Dreams" is downcast and subdued (fitting its lyrical contact), Van Halen's "Dreams" is a big,
loud arena rocker in which the narrator encourages his significant other to spread her wings, climb higher and chase her dreams.  The song prominently features Eddie Van Halen's synthesizers throughout, as well as his typical searing guitar solo in the middle.  We don't hear Sammy Hagar's vocals until nearly a full minute into the song.  This song is, in my opinion, a perfect snapshot of the so called "Van Hagar" years.  Catchy, anthemic, synth-laden.  It was a Top 40 hit for the band and helped catapult 5150 to more than 6 million in sales. TGR Grade: B+

Artist #3: The Cranberries (1992) - Whereas the previous two songs were hit songs by well established American bands, this one was the debut single of a band from Ireland.  This song is an ethereal tune prominently featuring the recently departed Dolores O'Riordan's distinctive vocals.

Like the Fleetwood Mac song, the lyrics deal with a relationship.  Unlike the Fleetwood Mac song, this one has a more positive outlook at the beginning of a relationship.  I think most people can relate to the sentiment of falling for someone, dreaming of a future together, while also pleading that he or she doesn't break your heart.  While the song didn't manage to crack the Top 40 on the Billboard 100, it did hit the Top 15 on the Alternative Songs Chart in the U.S. and charted in a half dozen countries around the world.  While it wasn't the band's biggest hit (both "Linger" and "Zombie" would exceed this song's popularity), it was their first hit and the song that put them on the map in the world of 1990s alternative music. TGR Grade: B+

Song Title: "Jump"

Artist #1: Van Halen (1984) - This song was the lead single from Van Halen's massive hit album 1984.  Released in the waning days of 1983, it became Van Halen's first and only #1 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 in February 1984.  It held the top spot for 5 weeks, succeeding Culture Club's "Karma Chameleon", before eventually being knocked out of the top spot by "Footloose" by Kenny Loggins.  In addition to being their biggest hit, the song marked a transition for the band.  Whereas early Van Halen songs were focused on and built around Eddie Van Halen's guitar licks, "Jump" is propelled instead by a rolling synthesizer line, also played by Eddie.  This synth-laden version of Van Halen would foreshadow the band's sound on their next two albums (see the aforementioned "Dreams") and lead, in part, to the departure of David Lee Roth from the band.  Lyrically, the song doesn't have much depth or many lyrics, but it is upbeat and catchy.  The music video, with Roth dancing, jumping and doing slow motion karate kicks, was a huge hit on MTV.  The song and video helped make 1984 the band's biggest hit with more than 10 million copies sold in the U.S. alone.  The album peaked at number 2 for five weeks but was held out of the top spot by Michael Jackson's Thriller. TGR Grade: A-

Artist #2: The Pointer Sisters (1984) - OK, officially this song is known as "Jump (For My Love),"
but it was originally called "Jump" when the album Break Out was released in 1983.  The parenthetical was only added prior to its release as a single in 1984 to distinguish it from the aforementioned Van Halen song of the same name.  This song was released a few months after Van Halen's and it peaked at #3.  Whereas Van Halen's "Jump" is an arena rocker, The Pointer Sisters' is an electro-dance tune typical of their sound and much of the R&B and pop music of the early to mid 1980s.  "Jump" is the second in a string of four Top 10 hits for the group during 1984 and those songs helped make Break Out their biggest album, going triple platinum.  Whereas Van Halen's song still receives plenty of airplay on '80s and classic rock stations, this song is one of those hits that didn't age quite as well and has faded away over the past three decades.  TGR Grade: C

Artist #3: Kriss Kross (1992) - Ahhh.....the early 1990s.  That period when hair bands were fading into oblivion and being replaced by grunge and alternative rock and when fun (and funny) rap songs

were being replaced by gangster rap.  Into this time of transition came this song, which was the debut single for Kriss Kross.  Kriss Kross was the moniker of two pre-pubescent rappers whose claim to fame (besides this song) were wearing their clothes backwards and calling themselves "Mac Daddy" and "Daddy Mac," which seems woefully inappropriate considering that these guys didn't even have hair on their junk when this song came out.  For some inexplicable reason, this song was a massive hit, topping the charts for 8 weeks.  In fact, I'm ashamed to admit that this was the #1 song in the country when I graduated from high school in early June 1992.  It's even harder to believe that it was a hit when it's two tweens rapping about how "fly," "lovable, huggable" they are and that virtually every line in the song contains the words "kriss," "kross," "daddy," "mac," and "jump." Seriously, those five words appear a combined total of 132 times. 132 times in a 3 minute, 17 second long song!  This was the duo's only #1 hit song, which I'm sure isn't a surprise to anyone when you consider everything I just said about it. TGR Grade: D


Song Title: "Heaven"

Artist #1: Bryan Adams (1985) - This song was actually recorded in 1983 and almost wasn't included on Adams's giant 1984 album Reckless.  Both Adams and his producer thought the sound was "too light" and not a good fit amongst rockers like "Summer of '69", "Somebody" and "Run to

You." However, Adams changed his mind at the last minute and included it.  It was a smart move, as the song got all the way to #11 on the charts, one of six Top 20 hits from the album, which went on to sell more than 5 million copies in the U.S. and 12 million copies worldwide.  Adams had been touring with and opening for Journey and, as such, the song is heavily inspired by that band's power ballads like "Faithfully." The song's lyrics are about finding that special someone and how, when you are with that person, it's akin to being in heaven.  It's not the most unique sentiment, but with Adams's raspy, heartfelt vocals, it works.  These days, this song doesn't receive the airplay of "Summer of '69," the single released right after this song, but it's still a good song and a precursor to the many ballads that Adams struck big with in the early 1990s. TGR Grade: B+

Artist #2: Warrant (1989) - If you were a so called "hair band" in the late '80s, it was almost a requirement that you record a power ballad.  Often, those power ballads became the band's biggest hit.  Such is the case with this song.  This song, the second single from the band's debut album, was

Warrant's biggest hit, peaking at #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.  It stayed at #2 for two weeks, held out of the top spot by, of all songs, "Girl I'm Gonna Miss You" by Milli Vanilli.  The general theme of the song is similar to the aforementioned Bryan Adams song: equating heaven with being with the person you love.  However, this song is a little more melancholy, looking back at faded photographs and walking alone down a boulevard late at night, making seem as if the singer has lost his love but is still hanging on and hoping that she will come back ("I don't know what to do but I'm never giving up on you.") Musically, this is a perfect example of the hair band power ballad: acoustic guitar and softer verses with electric guitars and a harder rocking chorus.  Fortunately, this power ballad isn't quite as saccharine as some of the power ballads released by the band's contemporaries and, as such, it has aged better some of the other songs.  TGR Grade: B

Artist #3: Better Than Ezra (1995) - Many of you may have never even heard of this song.  It's an album track from the band's major label debut album, Deluxe, which produced hit songs like "Good"

and "In The Blood."  I love this album - it's one of my favorites of all time.  Every song on it is good and, 20+ years later, I know every lyric of every song.  Having said that, I have no idea what this song is about.  Unlike the previous two songs, this one is not about being with the one you love.  Much of it is, quite frankly, sentence fragments that really have little to no meaning.  It does, however, feature this lyric which I really like: "heretics and hypocrites/wear the same face through the years/of telling lies and laying blame/damn the fire to feed the flame"  The song has a slower tempo than most of the songs on the album and features a nice bass line from Tom Drummond who co-wrote the song with the band's guitarist, lead singer and primary songwriter Kevin Griffin.  This isn't one of the band's best songs, but I still like it. TGR Grade: B


Song Title: "Alive"

Artist #1: Pearl Jam (1991) - This is the debut single from one of the most beloved American rock bands of the last 50 years. It helped launch the so-called grunge movement and "Seattle sound"
that came to define the musical landscape of the 1990s.  The album on which this song appeared, Ten, has sold more than 10 million copies in the U.S.  While fellow Seattle rock legends Nirvana are typically credited with ushering in the era of grunge, Ten was actually released a month before that band's iconic Nevermind.  Closing in on 30 years after its initial release, this song remains one of the most popular songs in Pearl Jam's impressive canon.  It's not hard to understand why.  It's a rocker with a big, arena-ready chorus that features one of the great guitar solos of all time in the coda.  In fact, the solo, played by Mike McCready, was ranked among the 50 greatest guitar solos of all time by Guitar World and Total Guitar. While the music and melody are big, loud and, at first listen, uplifting or inspirational, the lyrics are in fact decidedly dark.  They tell the story of a young man whose mother has just informed him that the man he thought was his father isn't, in fact, his father and that his real father is dead.  In a sense, those serious lyrics help explain, in a nutshell, the shift in rock from the late 1980s to rock in the early 1990s.  While the party hard, hair bands of the late '80s talked about just having "a good time" and staying "up all night," the grunge bands of the early '90s had lyrics dealing with depression and broken families and other dark subjects.  Pearl Jam has recorded a lot of great music over the past 30 years, but this song remains one of their best and it's one of my all time favorites. TGR Grade: A

  

Artist #2: Edwin McCain (1995) - While Pearl Jam's "Alive" was a big hit, this song - which was the first song on McCain's major label debut album, Honor Among Thieves, was never released as a single.  While McCain would go on to have some success in the latter '90s with ballads like "I'll Be," this song is a great example of the funky, acoustic, singer-songwriter vibe that dominated his first few

albums.  It's both a love letter to New Orleans and the power that music can have on the human spirit.  The first verse, for example, deals with a record store owner on St. Charles Street whose father and wife recently passed away but who is still finding the strength to go on, partly because of music.  The bridge also contains the great line "you know life's a roller coaster, it ain't got no safety bar."  So while the music in this song is completely different from Pearl Jam's song of the same name (Edwin's has acoustic guitar and a wind controller rather than Pearl Jam's big guitars), there are some lyrical similarities.  In both songs, people have faced difficult circumstances and are finding a way to persevere and keep going. 
TGR Grade: A-


Song Title: "True"

Artist #1: Spandau Ballet (1983) - This song is a great example of the New Wave music that dominated the radio airwaves in the early to mid 1980s. While Spandau Ballet had a lot of success in the UK during the '80s, this song was their only hit US hit, where it hit #4 in 1983.  Typical of the

New Wave music of the time, it features prominent synthesizers and electronic drums.  Unlike much of the music at the time, it shows some literary and cultural awareness, with lyrics mentioning Marvin Gaye and adapting lines from Nabokov's  Lolita.  The song ins supposedly about a platonic relationship but who knows because the song is primarily just known for its music and the oft repeated "Uh huh huh HUH huh. I know this much is true" line.  While the song was enormously popular worldwide, it has also frequently appeared on "Worst Songs of All Time" lists.  This likely largely to do the repetitive nature of the song, which is particularly noticeable on the album version, which drags on for 6 and a half minutes.  The song gained a second wind, of sorts, in the 1990s when it was sampled by PM Dawn for their hit song "Set Adrift on Memory Bliss" in 1991 and when Steve Buscemi famously covered it in an uncredited cameo as a cheesy wedding singer in Adam Sandler's hit 1998 film "The Wedding Singer." It was also featured prominently in an ad for the Chevy Malibu in 2012. TGR Grade: B-

Artist #2: George Strait (1998) - The first country entry on the list has to come from none other than King George.  While he is arguably the most successful country music artist of all time with more than 50 #1 hits under his belt, this isn't one of those #1s.  This song peaked at #2 in 1998 in the U.S., though it did top the charts in Canada.  While the Spandau Ballet song is kinda sorta maybe about love, this song (written by Marv Green and Jeff Stevens) is unambiguously about love.  But whereas

most country love songs are slow ballads, this song is an upbeat, up-tempo number.  While Strait has always stuck to his country roots and avoided the pop crossover crap that has plagued country music over the past decade (God bless him for that), this song is about as close to be big arena rocker as he gets.  While it features steel guitar and fiddle, it is primarily driven by an electric guitar hook.  The lyrics profess his love and compare it to the sun coming up in the morning, a baby's smile, a mountain river and rain. From that standpoint, using outdoor metaphors to convey the power of his love, it bears some similarities to Randy Travis's smash hit "Deeper Than The Holler" from a decade before.  In the hands of a lesser singer, this song might be a little too treacle, but Strait's voice and delivery turn it into something special.  While this isn't one of my favorite George Strait songs, it's still a lot better than most of the garbage you can find on country radio these days.  TGR Grade: B+


Song Title: "Shout"

Artist #1: The Isley Brothers (1959) - Of all of the hit songs that came out of the first two decades of rock 'n roll, this is one of the most enduring.  How many other nearly 60 year old songs still get played regularly at sporting events, dances and wedding receptions?  Interestingly, the song never even cracked the Top 40.  However, in spite of its lack of chart success, it is unquestionably an
enormous hit, as evidenced by the aforementioned frequency at which it is still played and the fact that it was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1999 and listed as #118 on Rolling Stone's list of "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time."  Though it was originally written and recorded by The Isley Brothers in 1959, it has been covered countless times by other music legends such as The Beatles, Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers, and - most famously - by Otis Day and the Knights.  Their version was featured in the 1978 comedy classic National Lampoon's Animal House, which re-introduced the song to a whole new generation of music lovers and party animals.  The song is incredibly simple but also incredibly catchy.  It's a call and response with the lead singer saying different phrases, to which the rest of the band or backing singers reply "Shout".  However, it's the dance and the "little bit softer now" that really gave the song its longevity, some of which can invariably be linked to Bluto and the gang dancing to it at the toga party in Animal House.  The song is still a favorite nearly 60 years after it's initial release and there's no reason to believe that will change in the next 60 years. TGR Grade: A

Artist #2: Tears for Fears (1985) - Tears for Fears' sophomore album Songs From The Big Chair was one of the biggest hit albums of 1985.  It sold more than 5 million copies in the U.S. and more than 7 million copies worldwide.  The album produced 3 top 5 hits, including this song, which was the band's first #1 single.  Whereas The Isley Brothers' "Shout" is a fun party song, Tears for Fears' 

"Shout" is a protest anthem of sorts, encouraging people to raise their voices against things they don't agree with.  Musically, the song is another good example of pop music in the mid 1980s, with synthesizers, shimmering guitars and a drum machine.  The song, however, has an interesting structure.  Instead the typical verse-chorus-verse-chorus set up, the song starts with the chorus twice followed be a few verses, another chorus, another verse, and then the chorus several more times.  It gets a little repetitive after a while.  Overall, it's a good song and it's often considered their signature song, though I'd put several of their later songs, namely "Everybody Wants to Rule the World," "Head Over Heels" and "Sowing the Seeds of Love," above this song.  TGR Grade: B

There you have it - a unique look at some different songs that have the same name but completely different styles and stories.  I hope you enjoyed it. There are some other song titles for which I could do this, but I'll save those for a future blog post. 

As always, thanks for reading!