Hands to Heaven

You gotta be kidding me! "We Want Some Pussy" and now this? Earworm gods: please spare me!

Artist: Breathe
Year: 1987
Rating: Cold

Yesterday Once More (Once More)

The third time I've woken with this song since starting the blog. Here's a better video for it this time. I think this was prompted because I was singing this tune with my family on Thanksgiving. It came up in the context of songs we remembered singing a lot as kids.



Last in my head on January 13, 2011.

Artist: The Carpenters
Year: 1973
Rating: Luke Hot

Three's Company Theme

Three's Company
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I think this song is in my head due to my unconventional living arrangements of late. I live in a two bedroom apartment with my very recent ex-girlfriend and her ex-boyfriend. Hilarity ensues. And, y'know, awkwardness.

Artist: Joe Raposo (Composer), Ray Charles (not *that* Ray Charles) & Julia Rinker
Year: 1977
Rating: Luke Hot

You're In My Heart (The Final Acclaim)

This is the most sappy, and, yet, the most appropriate song to pop into my head today. Amber and I have called it quits after more than six years together. She's been my lover and my best friend, and she's in my soul. Sigh.

Artist: Rod Stewart
Year: 1977
Rating: Warm

Post Script: As I've been attending more to the blog recently, I have to acknowledge the strange, stretchy soup that is Time. It's now–oh, wow–15 years, since Amber and I parted ways as partners. Grateful she's still in my life, though. This commentary also peels back the magical veil of the Modern Internets some, in that, I've hidden the dates on individual blog posts to make them seem more "evergreen." Music is timeless, you know. But autobiographical details do remain fixed, even as the memories waft around in the present moment. 

Post-Post Script: I had to laugh when I realized anew that one of my best friends in the world found out the news of this breakup all those years ago (see the comments thread) by reading about it in the blog! And on an entry about Rod Stewart, no less!  

How Long?

The refrain is playing over and over in my head, and that voice is so familiar...my first thought was "is this a one-hit wonder band?" or could it be Mike & the Mechanics? No, this song is way older than the span of that particular Genesis offshoot band. Is it a smooth R&B singer like Luther Vandross, or a richly-timbered white-guy crooner?

Why, it's Paul Carrack, in one of his first bands, Ace. Who's Paul Carrack, and why have I never heard of him before? Listen closely...does his voice sound familiar to you? It's seeped into the collective consciousness, via his higher-profile projects. Are you Tempted to google his name? And, yes, indeed, Mike Rutherford did hire him in the late-80s -- can you hear him calling you?

Will you join me in raising a collective, "What the hell??" when I say why hasn't Paul Carrack gotten the name recognition he deserves?

Artist: Ace
Year: 1974
Rating: Warm

Just the Way You Are

When I was a surly teenager, I thought Billy Joel was crazy not to want "clever conversation." Now that I'm an adult, and have absorbed a fair share of snark in my life, I have more appreciation for the simplicity and comfort of "just want(ing) someone I can talk to."

Artist: Billy Joel
Year: 1977
Rating: Warm

Note: For the last several days, I thought the only song that would EVER be in my head again was White Winter Hymnal (the song I blogged about on 8/31). I really like the song, but it was getting violently overpowering in my head.

Sentimental Lady, Redux

Last in my head on September 24, 2009. This episode of sentimental infection came after a really good dose of 70's mellow gold on the radio in my car the other day. In one short drive, I managed to hear Whenever I Call You Friend by Kenny Loggins and Stevie Nicks, Jim Croce's I Got a Name (a great driving tune!) and Wild World by Cat Stevens. Loving the new Bay Area oldies station, though I take umbrage with their classification of 80's music as "oldies" (don't get me started).

Artist: Bob Welch
Year: 1972/1977
Rating: Luke Hot

Miracles

Wow! Haven't thought about this song in decades. And had no idea it was Jefferson Starship. I was thinking maybe Seals and Crofts...? Nevertheless, I'm so glad the '70s are lodged in my brain to the extent they are. It's a miracle, baby.

Artist: Jefferson Starship
Year: 1975
Rating: Warm

Blue Bayou

Hit me suddenly after making a phone call on a job inquiry, sipping my second cuppa coffee.

Artist: Linda Ronstadt (original 1963, by Roy Orbison/Joe Melson)
Year: 1977
Rating: Luke Hot

Georgy Girl

Haven't thought about or heard this song in a long time. I love the exact moment of 60's pop it represents: whimsical and seemingly innocent music and lyric giving way to internal darkness.

There's another Georgy deep inside.

Artist: The Seekers
Year: 1966
Rating: Hot!
Note: I've never seen the film. Should put it on the queue.

Yesterday Once More, Redux

I had this song in my head a year ago, almost to the day. This has happened a couple times before, as well. Not sure if it's some sort of cyclical memory, or just a coinkidink. It arrived on my mind the night before I woke with it, because of hearing a certain Belle & Sebastian song that reminded me of the melody.

Happy New Year, y'all!

xo
Sooze

Artist: The Carpenters
Year: 1973
Rating: Luke Hot

Hello Again

Maybe it's been crazy
And maybe I'm to blame.

Artist: Neil Diamond
Year: 1980
Rating: Luke Hot

The Captain of Her Heart

Cheesy McCheese. Followed somehow from Arcade Fire's Sprawl II, which had been lingering in my head for several days until I employed the good old Mozart reset trick.

Artist: Double
Year: 1986
Rating: Cold (though the melody on the refrain is indeed catchy).

Send in the Clowns

This might very well be the most random song I've had in my head since starting the blog. The melancholy '70s ballad floodgates are now fully open!

Artist: Judy Collins
Written by: Stephen Sondheim
Year: 1973 (original); 1975 (Collins)
Rating: Lukewarm

Almost Paradise

In my head upon waking with a hangover in Santa Cruz on Monday morning. Hangover state is pretty much anathema to Paradise, but okay.

Artist: Mike Reno & Ann Wilson
Year: 1984
Rating: Cold

Laughter in the Rain

Ooh, the joy and cringe factor of growing up on '70s radio.

Artist: Neil Sedaka
Year: 1974
Rating: Warm

Even The Nights Are Better

This is always an amusing song, but truly so waking with it this morning. You'll just have to trust me on this one.*

Artist: Air Supply
Year: 1982
Rating: Warm

*You don't trust me? Okay, yes, it involves sex and alcohol. And Atari.

Downtown Train x3

Sometimes multiple versions of songs flash through my head almost simultaneously. In this case, three versions of the song "Downtown Train," written and performed originally by Mr. Tom Waits, appeared in my head in reverse-chronological order.



I owned the 1992 Acoustic album from Everything But The Girl, so that's the version of the song I've heard most. If you were a college kid in the 90s (like me!) you probably heard this simply lovely collection of covers at some point.

Another recommend from this album is Tracey & Ben's rendition of Springsteen's Tougher Than The Rest. Both the original and this version are quietly, painfully beautiful. 

Artist: Everything but the Girl
Year: 1992
Rating: Luke Hot



Then Rod Stewart's radio-hit version wormed its way in for a few minutes. The studio rendition is not bad, though his live performances of the song can be cheese-tastic, to be sure. Still, I do have a soft spot for this guy.

Artist: Rod Stewart
Year: 1989
Rating: Warm



Then I was left with the original, and man, that's exactly where I needed to be.

Artist: Tom Waits
Year: 1985
Rating: Hawt!

Lotta Love

You know I need relating, not solitude. Yep.

...and one of the rockinest flute solos to the light side of Jethro Tull.

Artist: Nicolette Larson
Year: 1978
Rating: Warm

Note: I didn't realize this was a Neil Young song! Wow! Now that I'm hearing it, the phrasing and octave change on the verses are distinctively so.

Another note: Sadly, Nicolette Larson died in 1997, at age 45, from liver failure. Rest in peace, NL.

Love Theme from The Breakfast Club

When it popped into my head, I was wondering whether it actually had a title other than "Love Theme" but, in fact, no.

Artist: Keith Forsey
Year: 1985
Rating: Lukewarm (but nostalgic)