More Things I Remember

• I remember when I was worried about how to pay for daycare.  Now I'm worried about how to pay for college.
• I remember when I was focusing on trying to teach my son to ride a bike.  Within a few months, I'll be focusing on trying to teach him to drive a car. Yikes!
• I remember when we actually got snow during the winter.  Seriously, I saw more snow in one day in Alabama in early December than I've seen in Missouri in the 2 months since.
• I remember the View-Master, which was virtual reality (VR) before VR was a thing.

• I remember when the Etch-A-Sketch was a popular toy, even though I hated that thing.  I never could draw anything decent at all with it.  Of course, that has less to do with the Etch-A-Sketch and more to do with my lack of artistic ability.
• I remember many family vacations.  Over the years, we traveled pretty much from coast to coast and a lot of places in between.  I've splashed in the Atlantic Ocean, the Pacific Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico.  We visited the beach, the mountains, numerous national parks, national monuments and, of course, Civil War battlefields.  I feel very fortunate to have had parents who put a priority on those experiences.  For even though I've lived in the same city my entire life (save my four years of college in Texas), I've seen much of the country and experienced a lot of things.
• I remember my brother getting car sick on many of those vacations.  In an elevator in Kansas City.  In Griffith Park in LA. On the side of the road in Wyoming.  And, most disgustingly, all over the dashboard and windshield of my uncle's car that he let us borrow for a trip.  Seriously, he's thrown up in more states than a lot of people have visited. 
• I remember the old radio in our 1983 Honda Accord on a few of those trips.  You know the old radios, the ones where you pushed a button and the little needle jumped over to the next preset station?  There were no seek or search functions on those radios, so it was sometimes quite difficult to find a music station to listen to.  And we didn't have satellite radio or cassette tapes or CDs.  It was a lot harder to entertain yourself back then.  Now, between smart phones, tablets, portable DVD players and satellite radio, my kids have a wealth of entertainment choices for a long road trip.  Not that I'm jealous or bitter...
• I remember when hit songs were written by just one or two songwriters.  In the '60s, you had Brian Wilson crafting hits for the Beach Boys, while John Lennon and Paul McCartney wrote countless hits for The Beatles.  In the 1970s, you had Don Henley and Glenn Frey writing hits for the Eagles. For most of the 1960s through the 1990s, the Grammy for "Song of the Year" was awarded for songs written by one or two songwriters in almost every year.  Compare that to this year.  A Bruno Mars song, "That's What I Like" won the award and it was written by a total of - not two, not three - but no fewer than 8 songwriters.  8! It took that many people to write a 3 and a half minute pop song?  It's not like this is a peer reviewed research paper or a college textbook.  Just as bad, of the other 4 songs that were nominated, 3 of them had at least 5 co-writers!  Whatever happened to a musician who could write and perform his or her own music, rather than have to enlist almost an entire Supreme Court's worth of songwriters?  It's ridiculous.
• I remember when the national anthem wasn't a source of controversy.  It was simply a song to celebrate our country and not a political football used for completely different purposes.
• I remember when Donald Trump was a rich guy who was famous for making deals, writing books and slapping his name on gaudy buildings.  Now he's a rich guy who is famous for not making deals, writing incendiary tweets and generally doing his best to stir the pot and upset people.
• I remember when the Big 10 had 10 teams and the Big 12 had 12 teams.  Now, the Big 10 has 14 teams and the Big 12 has 10 teams.  At least the Pac 12 was intelligent enough to actually adjust the name of the conference to accurately reflect the number of teams.
• I remember when the Southeastern Conference only had teams in the southeastern quadrant of the country.  Now it has a team in Texas (which is southern but certainly not eastern) and a team in Missouri (which is neither southern nor eastern).
• I remember when the Atlantic Coast Conference only had teams that were in states on the Atlantic Coast.  Now it has teams in Pennsylvania, Kentucky and Indiana, three states that are nowhere near the Atlantic Coast.  Of course, the Big East now features teams in Nebraska, Wisconsin and Illinois, none of which are even in the Eastern Time Zone.  What should we make of the fact that our premier collegiate conferences are geographically challenged not to mention really bad at math?
• I remember when I was the new kid on the block and the youngest person in my department at work.  Now, I'm one of the most senior employees and I'm older than about half of the department.
• I remember when Darius Rucker had hits on the pop charts and Taylor Swift had hits on the country charts rather than the other way around.
• I remember when I did my first blog post in January 2016.  Now, two years and nearly 70 blog posts later, we're still going strong.  Thanks for reading!

Generation X Loses Another Voice

This week brought us another death of a musician who helped to define the musical landscape for those of us who make up the so-called Generation X.  It started back in the 1990s with the death of grunge icon Kurt Cobain and has continued since, most recently with The Cranberries' lead singer, Dolores O'Riordan.  As such, I wanted to pay a little tribute to some of  those musicians who we have lost.  The list is listed in order that they left us for the big rock concert in the sky.

Musician: Kurt Cobain, guitarist and lead singer of Nirvana
Why We Loved Him: Unwittingly, he become a spokesperson for the musical movement that became known as grunge. His raspy voice and sludgy guitars opened the door to countless other bands from the Pacific Northwest (some members of whom, unfortunately, you will see later on this list).  In less than 5 minutes, Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit" closed the book on '80s hair bands and brought alternative rock into the mainstream.
Best Song: "Smells Like Teen Spirit" - It's garbled, screamed vocals, non-sense lyrics and crunching guitars sounded like nothing else on the radio at the time and is arguably the most important song of the '90s.
Honorable Mention: "Lithium"

Musician: Layne Staley, lead singer of Alice in Chains
Why We Loved Him: Another troubled grunge frontman, Staley's snarled vocals and unique harmonies with Jerry Cantrell gave the band's heavy metal music a melodic edge that set them apart from some of their grunge peers.
Best Song: "Would?" - First heard on the "Singles" soundtrack, this song is a terrific example of Staley vocals and his vocal interplay with Cantrell.  One of their earliest songs but also still their best, in my opinion
Honorable Mention: "No Excuses" and "Man in the Box"

Musician: Michael Jackson
Why We Loved Him: If you are of a certain age, his 1982 album "Thriller" was the biggest thing in music for several years.  Numerous hit singles and groundbreaking videos made him the King of Pop and one of the biggest music stars on the planet.  He was uniquely talented, writing his songs, singing them and dancing to them.  While he was undoubtedly a strange bird, something that became more and more apparent throughout the '90s and 2000s, he left an indelible mark on the music world.
Best Song: "Billie Jean" - It's almost impossible not to dance - or at least tap your foot - to this song whenever you hear it.
Honorable Mention: "Beat It"

Musician: Whitney Houston
Why We Loved Her: She had an amazing voice and numerous big hit songs during the '80s and '90s before hooking up with Bobby Brown and slowly spiraling downward.
Best Song: "I Will Always Love You" - A cover of a Dolly Parton song, this song spent more than 3 months at the top of the charts.  It showcased her vocals and vocal range and was her biggest hit song.
Honorable Mention: "The Greatest Love of All"

Musician: Scott Weiland, lead singer of Stone Temple Pilots and Velvet Revolver
Why We Loved Him: He was a charismatic frontman who helped put a voice to some of the great rock songs of the '90s.  His personal life was a mess, but there was no denying that he was a terrific lead singer on stage and on record.
Best Song: "Interstate Love Song" - Three minutes of sunny rock perfection
Honorable Mention: "Wicked Garden" and "Plush"

Musician: David Bowie
Why We Loved Him: I'll admit it - I'm not a big David Bowie fan.  Of all of the people on this list, he's my least favorite.  I thought about not even including him, since he's significantly older than most of the people on this list and much of his success was in the '70s, when most of us Gen X folks were too long to know the difference.  But there is no denying his longevity and legacy, so I decided to include him.  After all, with Bowie, we would have never had Peter Schilling's '80s gem "Major Tom (Coming Home)."
Best Song: "Modern Love" - Again, I'm not a huge fan so I went with a big 80s hit.  So sue me.
Honorable Mention: "Let's Dance"

Musician: Prince
Why We Loved Him: He was prolific, peculiar and purple. He primarily produced pop music, but was a terrific guitarist who could rock when he wanted to.  He was an singer, musician, songwriter, producer and actor.  He pushed boundaries and even changed his name to an unpronounceable symbol.  He also put out a lot of great songs during his career, from early '80s pop gems like "1999" and "Little Red Corvette" to odd music nuggets like "Batdance."
Best Song: "When Doves Cry:
Honorable Mention: "Let's Go Crazy" and "Raspberry Beret"

Musician: Chris Cornell, lead singer of Soundgarden, Temple of the Dog and Audioslave
Why We Loved Him: He was another terrific frontman with an incredible voice that cut through and soared above the sludgy guitars that permeated Soundgarden's music.  Whereas many of the Seattle-based and alternative lead singers had lower, baritone voices, Cornell's vocals often jumped multiple octaves and were distinctly different than his peers.  He was also a great lyricist who gave us one of my favorite song lyrics: "I'm looking California and feeling Minnesota."
Best Song: "Outshined"
Honorable Mention: "Black Hole Sun" and "Hunger Strike"

Musician: Tom Petty
Why We Loved Him: With a career that spanned 40 years and bounced back and forth between solo work, albums with The Heartbreakers, as well as collaborations like The Traveling Wilburys, Petty was responsible for a huge catalog of music.  He got his start in the days of soft rock and disco, successfully navigate the new wave '80s, continued to produce hits during the alternative rock heydays of the '90s, and on into the new millennium.  He might have seemed an unlikely music star, given his plain looks and his nasally, limited voice.  But, at the end of the day, it was about the music that he produced more than how he looked, and that's exactly as it should be.
Best Song: "Walls" - This is a lesser known of his songs and it was featured in the soundtrack of the '90s film "She's The One," but this song, with it's simple melody and chiming guitars, is my favorite of his.
Honorable Mention: "Free Fallin'", "You Don't Know How It Feels" and "Last Dance With Mary Jane."

Musician: Dolores O'Riordan, lead singer of The Cranberries
Why We Love Her: She was a bit of a rarity in the alternative rock landscape of the '90s: a female fronting a band made up of men.  Her distinctive Irish accent and frequent use of yodeling likewise gave The Cranberries a sound that was different than most of what was on the radio in my college years.  While the band's most well known song is likely the crunchy, hard rocking "Zombie," most of her work was softer and more melodic, such as "Linger," "Dreams" and "Ode to My Family."  Without her unique voice, The Cranberries likely get lost in the shuffle of the myriad of alternative bands that tried to break through in the '90s.
Best Song: "Linger" - It was the band's first big hit and is still my favorite from their discography.  It was an ethereal, acoustic and strings quality that works well when coupled with her voice.
Honorable Mention: "Zombie" and "Dreams"

Mind you, the "best song" selections are obviously subjective.  I picked my favorites, but I'd be interested to hear yours as well.

And here's hoping that I don't have to add to this list anytime soon...

Where Have All The Rock Stars Gone?

Long-time readers of this blog know that I like music.  I have done several previous blog posts about my favorite lyrics and favorite songs.  I enjoy a variety of music, from rock and heavy metal to country and bluegrass.  My playlist includes everything from The Beatles and Beach Boys to AC/DC and Metallica to George Strait and Randy Travis.  However, in looking at the world of music over the past 15 years, it's become obvious to me that there is a huge hole in the music world: a complete dearth of rock stars.

From the initial days of rock 'n roll's infancy in the 1950s, up through the late 1990s, every decade and every generation featured rock stars.  Just think about it:

- The 1950s gave us Chuck Berry, Buddy Holly, Jerry Lee Lewis and Elvis.  Each of these guys put rock 'n roll on the map and blazed a new trail on the musical landscape.  Decades later, their names and music are still well known.

- The 1960s gave us The Beatles and Rolling Stones, as well as The Beach Boys and countless other rock stars.

- The 1970s gave us Led Zeppelin, Van Halen, Eagles and Aerosmith.

- In the 1980s, it was AC/DC, U2, The Police, Bon Jovi and Guns 'n Roses, while the '90s gave us the Seattle Sound with bands like Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, as well bands like Stone Temple Pilots.

What did almost all of the bands listed feature?  Genuine rock stars.  Say any of those band's names and most people can instantly give you the names of the band's lead singer and guitarist.

Rolling Stones? Mick Jagger and Keith Richards. Led Zeppelin? Robert Plant and Jimmy Page.  Van Halen? David Lee Roth/Sammy Hagar and Eddie Van Halen. U2? Bono and The Edge.  Guns 'n Roses? Axl Rose and Slash.  Nirvana had Kurt Cobain, Pearl Jam had Eddie Vedder and Soundgarden had Chris Cornell.  The list goes on and on, but all had something in common - seemingly larger than life rock stars.  People who had voices or riffs that were instantly recognizable.

Now, think about music today.  Aside from Dave Grohl of Foo Fighters, who are the great rock stars of the 2000s?  There are some bands out there with some good songs, but most of the bands are faceless entities.  Imagine Dragons.  Can you name their lead singer or lead guitarist?  Same thing with a band like The Killers.  They have some good songs, but can anybody name anyone in the band?

Over the past 15 or 20 years, rock music has been harder to harder to find, falling out of favor and replaced by overproduced pop music and hip hop.  I think some of that can be attributed to the fact that there aren't any real rock stars out there.  As a long-time fan or rock 'n roll, I hope that there are some rock stars who can burst onto the scene and we will see a rock revival.  Until then, you can find me jamming out to those good old rock songs from the '60s, '70s, '80s and '90s, back when the guitars were loud and we all bowed down at the altar of rock gods.

Thanks for reading!