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Do you ever hear old songs from the 80’s and laugh at a particular lyric? Well, I just happen to hear a song today with the cheesiest lyrics ever for a rock song. If fact, I wonder if these lyrics were ever considered cool. I should know. I loved the song back when it first came out. It was actually quite big in the radio back in the day. I still enjoy the musical part of the song but the lyrics have definitely not held up as well. Here it is.

Silent Running by Mike + The Mechanics

Take the children and yourself

And hide out in the cellar

By now the fighting will be close at hand

Don’t believe the church and state

And everything they tell you

Believe in me, I’m with the high command


Can you hear me, can you hear me running?

Can you hear me running, can you hear me calling you?

Can you hear me, can you hear me running?

Can you hear me running, can you hear me calling you?


There’s a gun and ammunition

Just inside the doorway

Use it only in emergency

Better you should pray to God

The Father and the Spirit

Will guide you and protect from up here

[Repeat Chorus]

Swear allegiance to the flag
Whatever flag they offer
Never hint at what you really feel
Teach the children quietly
For some day sons and daughters
Will rise up and fight while we stood still

[Repeat Chorus A Lot]

“Believe in me, I’m with the high command.” There you have it. I have no idea what kind of weird dystopian future they’re thinking of in this song but I’m glad this type of fiction is out of vogue now.

According to Amazon’s shipping tracker my iPod is “out for delivery”. I can’t wait!

Jan 25, 2005  
07:30:00 AM  
SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO CA US  
OUT FOR DELIVERY

My iPod is getting closer to me. This morning it departed Kansas on it’s way to California. Amazon’s estimated delivery date is Jan 26 – 28 but I think it’ll probaby get here before then.

Jan 19, 2005  
10:42:00 AM  
VERNON CA US  
IN TRANSIT TO  

Jan 19, 2005  
10:41:00 AM  
WICHITA KS US  
DEPARTURE SCAN  

Jan 19, 2005  
12:48:00 AM  
WICHITA KS US  
ARRIVAL SCAN  

Jan 18, 2005  
09:22:00 PM  
TULSA OK US  
DEPARTURE SCAN  

Jan 18, 2005  
05:31:28 PM  
TULSA OK US  
ORIGIN SCAN

For my birthday (January 16) I asked for Amazon.com gift certificates so I could buy an iPod with minimum cash outlay. On Monday (January 18) I combined all of my Amazon.com gift certificates and placed my order. I don’t think I’ve ever been this excited to receive an Amazon box. I checked online multiple times today to see if my order had shipped. Much to my pleasure I noticed that it had indeed shipped. So, just so you all can share in the anticipation of me getting an iPod (I’m not self-centered, just excited) I’m going to log the shipping status of my iPod on this blog every day.

Today’s progress…

Jan 18, 2005  
05:26:47 AM  
Coffeyville KS USA  
SHIPPED

I can’t wait to see where it ends up at tomorrow!

It’s been a while since I’ve made a post in this series. Here’s the three most important songs from 1982.

Rock The Casbah – The Clash
This song sounds just as fresh today as it did almost twenty-three years ago. I remember watching the video for this song over and over again. The guitar player wore a camouflage bandana by tucking it into the top of his hat and letting it hang down in front of his face. Then part way through the song the singer comes along and takes the bandana off of the guitar player’s head and the guitar player gives a kind of fake surprised looked that seems to say, “Hey, you exposed me! But I don’t have time to deal with you right now because I’m too busy rockin’!”

White Wedding – Billy Idol
This was the song that launched Billy Idol’s career. I remember hearing this on the radio and being completely enamored by the words in the opening verse.

Hey little sister what have you done
Hey little sister who’s the only one
Hey little sister who’s your superman
Hey little sister who’s the one you want
Hey little sister shot gun!

Then when you think the big rockin’ chorus is going to kick in Billy pulls his punch and immediately takes it back a notch with…

It’s a nice day to start again
It’s a nice day for a white wedding
It’s a nice day to start again.

Billy Idol really knew how to use dynamics in music. He knew when to be loud and when to be soft. He knew how to juxtapose those elements to great effect. He had a great guitar player – Steve Stevens – who can shred with the best of them but instead of preferred to lay back and do what’s best for the song which is many cases is just as impressive.

Thriller – Michael Jackson
Just for a moment let’s try to forget about the train wreck Michael Jackson’s life turned out to be. People my age know that back in 1982 there was nobody cooler than Michael Jackson. The Thriller album was a phenomenon. Nobody had ever heard anything like it up to that point. No single album had ever been as successful up until that point. There’s many great songs from Thriller but the greatest has got to be the namesake track Thriller. Music videos were already gaining a lot of popularity by 1982 but the video for Thriller changed everything. Michael Jackson made videos an art form unto themselves. The Vincent Price monologue at the end of the song seals the deal. I had the whole monologue memorized when I was eleven years old and I still have it memorized to this day. No matter what horrible and freakish things Michael has done since those days — for which I sincerely hope justice is done — the fact remains that twenty-three years ago he changed pop music forever.

It’s been a while since I’ve posted music reviews. Here’s the CDs I’ve been listening to in my car for the last two months.

Megadeth – The System Has Failed
Wow! Dave Mustaine is more than twenty years into has music making career and he turns out the absolute best work of his life with his album. It’s really a Dave Mustaine solo album but the record label made him release it as a Megadeth album in order to fulfill contractual obligation. It doesn’t matter to me whose name is on it. This album rocks and has guitar solos on almost every song! Good solos. The kind that hard rock music should have. This is clearly some of the best heavy metal I’ve heard in a long long time. Just check out the fretwork on Kick the Chair. Wow!

Children of Bodom – Hate Crew Deathroll
Okay, so there’s this new breed of heavy metal and COB is supposed to be a pretty popular band in that scene. At least that’s what I’ve been reading in Guitar World. Alexi Laiho is a pretty fast guitar player but I just don’t hear anything all that interesting here. And the keyboard seems kind of out of place for this style of heavy metal.

Papa Roach – Getting Away With Murder
Papa Roach is trying to shed the Nu Metal label but… uh… that’s what they were good at. Trying to be a straight ahead rock band just isn’t working for them.

Lamb of God – As The Palaces Burn
This is one of New Breed of Heavy Metal bands that’s been getting a ton of press in the guitar magazines. While I do like the guitar playing the vocals take some getting used to. It’s not so much singing as it is screaming from your gut in such a way that it sounds like you’re tearing your throat. Not that that’s always a bad thing. There are times when that works for the music but it is an acquired taste and can take a while to get used to. Of the new heavy metal bands in this collection of review I felt Lamb of God was the weakest one. Also, I have no idea if they are a Christian band or not. I really couldn’t understand any of the lyrics!

The Killers – Hot Fuss
You’ve all heard the song. “Somebody told me you had a boyfriend that looked like a girlfriend that I had in February of last year.” Yep, it rocks in that 80’s kind of way. The rest of the album really grew on me for the last couple of months. I’m putting this on my “To Buy” list.

Killswitch Engage – End of Heartache
Another of the New Breed of Heavy Metal band. They’re pretty good. Unlike Lamb of God, most of the guitar riffs are pretty interesting to listen to. For me anyway. The vocalist is a little easier on the ears too. I actually could understand most of the lyrics. I wouldn’t recommend buying the entire album but some outstanding tracks are “Rose of Sharyn” and “Breathe Life”.

Saliva – Survival of the Sickest
If you listen to the hype these guy are single-handedly saving rock-n-roll from itself. Well, I wouldn’t go quite that far. It’s definitely good and the title track is easily one of the rockinest songs I’ve heard in a long time. A breath of fresh air. Unfortunately, the other songs, while certainly good, don’t quite live up to the same standards.

Shadows Fall – The War Within
These guys are the biggest of the New Heavy Metal groups and for a good reason. They know how to play. Musically, they are the most interesting of the new heavy metal groups. They actually play solos and… get this… harmony leads like Iron Maiden and Judas Priest. I do recommend getting this whole album but… and this is a big but… if you’re not used to listening to this new style of heavy metal “singing” you’re going to need a lot of time to get used to it.

Jimmy Eat World – Futures
Considering how good their last album was I had high expectations for Futures. Alas, I was let down. It just doesn’t have that fun vibe that Bleed American did.

The music of the Eighties has a very special place in my heart. This is the decade I went from being a nine year old boy who was just discovering music through my parents old stereo to a high school graduate. I grew up during the Eighties and that music is the soundtrack to much of my childhood and early life. For that reason Eighties music will remain close to me in a way no other music will. It was amazingly difficult to pick just one song from each year so I had to change the rules a bit. Instead of one song per year I allowed myself to choose three songs from each year that I think were the most important. However, even with 30 songs there’s still a lot of my favorite music that got left off the list. After I finish this series of posts look for a special "Hair Metal" and "Rush" editions.

Given the size of these articles I’m going to post these in two year increments. Here’s the 1980 and 1981.

1980

Back In  Black – AC/DC
The Back In Black album was recorded as a tribute to AC/DC’s recently deceased singer Bon Scott. It was also the album that broke AC/DC wide open to the masses. As good as Bon Scott was it was only when new singer Brian Johnson stepped in that AC/DC really took off. This song sounds just as fresh and relevant today as it was twenty-four year ago.

Ride Like the Wind – Christopher Cross
I don’t know why I love this song so much but I do. It’s one of those songs I heard on my big old stereo when I was nine. I think I just liked the Michael McDonald backing vocal of "Such a long way to gooooo!". Years later I saw a skit on SCTV (a Canadian version of Saturday Night Live) where Michael McDonald (played by Rick Morranis) is driving in his car with this song playing in the background. He’s driving like he’s in a hurry to get somewhere. He pulls into the parking lot of a recording studio and rushes inside. After hurriedly dealing with the security guard he runs into a recording booth just in time to sing "Such a long way to gooo". Then he runs out of the booth to argue with the producer and rushes back to the mic just in time for the second "Such a long way to gooo.". It’s one of those things you really have to see to appreciate.

Crazy Train – Ozzy Osbourne
This is probably the most recognizable song Ozzy ever recorded. The first time I heard it was when Ozzy released the live version on his Tribute album while I was in high school.

Much of Ozzy’s success is really due to the great guitar players he recruits. Randy Rhoads was the first guitarist to play with Ozzy when he went solo in the early Eighties. Randy was an amazing player and had as much to do with the creation of the eighties-metal sound as anyone else. He died in a plane crash after recording only two albums but his impact on the world of hard rock is still being felt today.

1981

Tom Sawer – Rush
Whether you know it or not you’ve heard this song many times. It’s been used at almost every sporting event I’ve been to. Scott Hatteberg of the Oakland A’s uses it as his theme song when he comes up to bat. It was also used in a car commercial a few years ago. It starts with a piercing low "E" on an old Moog synthesizer and a simple but catchy drum beat. Singer Geddy Lee comes in with the line we all know so well. "A Monday warrior, mean mean stride. Today’s Tom Sawer, mean mean pride."

This is another one of those songs that I heard on the radio back in 1981 and absolutely loved it. The distinctive keyboard riff in the middle had me hooked. But I never knew who did the song and subsequently "lost" it. During my first year in high school a friend of my gave me a Rush tape and Tom Sawer was the first song on it. Another song from my childhood rediscovered!

Rush is arguably the most influential and respected progressive rock band in the history of rock-n-roll. During high school and most of college I listened to Rush nearly non-stop. Rush’s impact on my own musical appreciation and development is huge. Their music deserves it’s own "best-of" list like this. At some point in the future I just may do that. However, as far as the larger world of music as a whole goes, Tom Sawer is Rush’s contribution that most people recognize and easily deserves its place on this list.

Another One Bites The Dust – Queen
This song is too cool for words. The big controversy when this song came out was that you could hear a secret message when you played the chorus backwards. Some people said you could hear, "The devil is number one" and other people said you could hear "It’s fun to smoke marijuana". Of course, it was all a bunch of crap. Years later in my college psychology class we actually listened to this song backwards. Almost everyone in the class heard something different which proves that the power of suggestion is very strong indeed.

The real power of Another One Bites the Dust is in the ultra-sparse arrangement. The minimal drums and simple bass line dominate much of the song. The guitar only comes in at a few points but when it does the effect is impressive. The way everything in this song is arranged perfectly creates the edge-of-your-seat suspense the lyrics suggest.

Open Arms – Journey
I’m not ashamed to admit it. I like Journey. Open Arms is a perfectly crafted love ballad and rightfully became their biggest hit. Not surprisingly it became the blueprint for all other love ballads that came after it. However, none of those copycat songs ever equaled the greatness of the original.

I thought it would be interesting to use iTunes to create a play list for each year since I’ve been alive. Then look at the music for each year and pick the most important song and add it to another play list that would be The Most Important Music of my Life. Read previous sentence with a bit of sarcasm. Here we go.

1971 – Stairway to Heaven (Led Zeppelin)
I was born in 1971. Even though I didn’t know it at the time it was also the same year Led Zeppelin released their fourth album, Zoso. On that album was what would become the greatest rock-n-roll song of all time. Just about every song on that album is a well recognized classic today but Stairway to Heaven rises above everything else as a perfect example of rock composition and performance.

1972 – Reelin’ In The Years (Steely Dan)
One of the best songs from the unique jazz rock group. This song has defined Steely Dan more than any of their other hits. I didn’t really appreciate Steely Dan until I heard a local band in Destin FL play this song when I was 21. I was so impressed by the guitar playing I bought the CD shortly thereafter and became a Steely Dan addict. A few years later one of the members of that local Destin band offered me a chance to go see a Steely Dan concert with them in Atlanta. That is still one of the best shows I’ve ever seen.

1973 – Dream On (Aerosmith) / Free Bird (Lynyrd Skynyrd)
I have to break my one song per year rule for 1973 because there are two songs that absolutely define the 70’s that came out if 1973. First is Aerosmith’s Dream On which is one of the first power ballads ever recorded. It doesn’t even have a proper guitar solo but that band still manages to achieve a climax with superior arrangement and use of dynamics. Then there is Lynyrd Skynyrd’s Free Bird. There’s a reason why people jokingly call out “Free Bird” at concerts today. It’s Lynyrd Skynyrd’s signature song and the energy of that 4 minute triple guitar solo at the end has never been equaled.

1974 – Suite: Judy Blue Eyes (Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young)
I’m not usually a big fan of vocal music but I’m still amazed by Suite: Judy Blue Eyes. A true masterpiece of the genre.

1975 – Breakdown (Tom Petty)
Tom Petty has was a strong force in popular for much of the 70’s, 80’s and early 90’s. Breakdown was his first big single. For a couple of months when I was 22 or 23 I was in a band that played mainly bluesy southern rock. We had a decent singer but he sounded like a wimpy Vegas lounge singer when we did this song. One evening we were practicing this song and I asked for the microphone just for fun. I did my best to sing it with the same intensity and conviction as Tom Petty and it came off pretty good. From that point on whenever we played this song I did the singing.

1976 – Hotel California (Eagles)
There’s no question about. Hotel California stands right up there with Stairway to Heaven as one of greatest rock songs ever recorded. Fleetwood Mac’s Rumors also came out in 1976. If I were comparing full albums I would definitely have to give this spot to Rumors but the truth is that as great as Rumors is as an album there’s not an individual song that stands up to Hotel California as far as its overall significance.

1977 – Come Sail Away (Styx)
Few songs define 70’s progressive rock the way Come Sail Away does. That’s why Eric Cartman covered this song on South Park’s Chef Aid CD decades later. We used the original Styx version for Tyler’s first birthday party play list.

1978 – Eruption (Eddie Van Halen)
The one minute and forty-two seconds that changed the world of guitar playing forever. Nothing about rock music was the same after Eruption. With this short solo piece Eddie Van Halen invented a whole new style of guitar playing that would dominate rock and even other styles of music for decades to come. The importance and influence of this piece cannot be overstated.

1979 – Another Brick In The Wall (Pink Floyd)
Pink Floyd’s The Wall is the third best selling album of all time. Only The Eagle’s Greatest Hits and Thriller have sold more copies than The Wall. When I was eight year old my parents kept their old stereo in my room. I remember using it to listed to different radio stations and was endlessly fascinated by the music on the radio at that time.

I distinctly remember the first time I heard Another Brick In The Wall on that stereo. I was completly enraptured by the sound of it. I loved the nearly mono-tone verses which had the audacity to say “We don’t need no education. We don’t need no thought control. No dark sarcasm in the classroom. Teacher, leave them kids alone.” I had no idea why they would be saying such things but to a 2nd grader like myself it was extremely rebellious and alluring. I felt like I shouldn’t be listening to it but I loved the music so much and it felt great to sing along with “Hey teacher! Leave them kids alone!” As adults I think tend to forget how much we hated school. Another Brick in the Wall was the definitive anti-school song.

When I was eight I had no idea who did this song and I eventually forgot about it. Years later in high school a friend of mine gave me a copy of The Wall and I was surprised to hear Another Brick In The Wall on it. “Hey! That’s the anti-school song I loved so much when I was in the 2nd grade! I found it again!” Of course, I learned that it’s not really an anti-school song so much as it’s against overbearing authority figures who are bent on stifling creative expression in young children.

Last Friday on September 17 I had the privilege to see Yes in concert at the Chronicle Pavilion. Kevin Hultgren was kind enough to provide four tickets in the VIP section. This is definitely the way to see a concert. We had our own little box area with a table for food and drinks. All in all, an excellent environment for listening to a couple hours of live music.

I’ve actually been a Yes fan since high school when most of us were into 90215 and Big Generator — Yes’s two great albums from the Trevor Rabin era. I had seen Yes in concert once before during their tour in support of Union. This was when they combined the Trevor Rabin era band with the classic band. The result was certainly not a true union since the musicians would enter and exit the stage based on what song was being played. However, it was still a very good show.

The lineup Friday night had all the original members which the exception of drummer Bill Bruford. He was replaced by longtime member Alan White. Needless to say, they drew heavily from their classic 70’s catalog. The complete setlist follows:

Going For The One
I was kind of surprised they would choose this song to open with. The slide guitar introduction is very uncharacteristic of the traditional Yes sound.

Sweet Dreams
I was even more surprised to hear this one. Every band had an album or two from early in their career they would like to forget. Yes’ first two albums fall into that category. However, they decided to pull out Sweet Dreams from their second album for this concert. It was a nice rendition of an old song.

I’ve Seen All Good People
Now here we go. Yes’ career took off with their third album which contained this song. Great vocal harmonies, guitar work, and beautiful arrangement is why this song has held up well for so long.

America
Huh (part one)? What were they thinking? I don’t think this was ever included on a regular album but it was included on the 1991 compilation Yes Years. It’s a cover of a Paul Simon song and I have to admit this has never been one of my favorites.

South Side of the Sky
A great song from Yes’ definitive album Fragile. It sounded like they slowed down the tempo a bit but it still had a lot of emotional impact live.

Your Is No Disgrace
Another classic Yes song performed to perfection. They extended the end of this song to include a dueling solo segment between Steve Howe and Rick Wakeman. Very impressive.

The Clap
Steve Howe’s signature solo acoustic guitar piece. I don’t know how old Steve Howe is now but he looked quite old on stage. But he can still play like he did thirty years ago and has more energy and enthusiasm for his music than many musicians a third his age.

Long Distance Runaround
The acoustic version of this song was a joy to listen to.

Wonderous Stories
Huh (part two)? Surely there is a better song in their catalog to fill out the acoustic portion of the set.

Roundabout
Other than I’ve Seen All Good People this is probably one of Yes’ biggest hits from their classic era — mainly for Rick Wakeman’s mind-blowing keyboard work. I was hoping to hear the full treatment for this song but the acoustic version was a nice change of pace. Hearing Rick play his classic organ parts on piano was certainly interesting also.

Owner of a Lonely Heart
Yes’ biggest hit of all time. You could argue this song doesn’t really belong to the classic band since Trevor Rabin wrote this song and made it what it is. However, three of the guys on stage (Jon Anderson, Chris Squire, and Alan White) were part of the band that recorded this song back in 1983 and you can’t really have a Yes concert without this song. By doing this song acoustically they were able to make it their own.

And You and I
Here the band returns to their electric instruments. This is one of my favorite Yes songs because of the great orchestral keyboard part and perfectly complimentary slide guitar played over it. Jon Anderson said they wrote this song during a period of time where nothing else mattered to them except the music they were making together. It definitely shows.

Awaken
Chris Squire with his triple neck bass guitar. For the record he did actually play all three necks during the course of this twenty minute song. I don’t know what the differences are between them but he did play them all.

Starship Trooper
The way they build on the ending chord progression makes this the perfect closer. Ending a Yes concert any other way would be a crime.

In case you’re wondering, no, I didn’t memorize the setlist while at the show. I looked it up online the next day. If you search hard enough you can find the setlist for most big name shows online these days.

I haven’t listened to my Yes music for a while but going to this concert has re-ignited my inertest. The next day I went through my CDs and added some to my iTunes library. Yes music has something that a lot of modern progressive rocks acts don’t have; soul, feeling and real emotion. That’s what music is really about.

Today my family and I went down to the Monterey Bay Aquarium. We enjoyed all of the exhibits and decided to take an extended stay at the Outer Bay tank. This tank contains fish and mammals commonly found in the outer part of the Monterey Bay. This consists mainly of very large Tuna, a few Hammerhead Sharks, and a turtle. We sat down and just watched these fishes slowly swimming around in their large tank. The Tuna were interesting just because they were so large. An average size tuna could easily be 6′ – 7′ long. The Hammerhead Sharks are interesting simply because they are sharks and have cool looking heads.

At one point we noticed three Hammerheads all swimming in the same area. This was unusual. As we tried to determine why three sharks were occupying the same area of the tank I said, “Something’s about to go down.” Then a couple of minutes later we notice one Tuna who would break his normal swimming pattern to dart to the other side of the tank really quickly. This fish was going fast! It’s really quite amazing how fast these fish can swim when they really want to. “Something’s definitely about to go down.”, I reminded everyone.

A few minutes later it happened. The Tuna shot forward from the back of the tank as fast as he could swim and slammed into the glass wall! Blood spewed from the fish’s head and it started going into convulsions. Then it swam in small loops while still appearing to have a seizure. After a few loops is swam to the other side of the tank, died, and dropped to the bottom. A couple of Hammerheads circled around it’s body. The sharks nipped at the fish a couple of times and then pushed it out of our sight.

The whole thing was kind of interesting to see but sad at the same time. Interesting because it’s hard to believe a fish can slam into a wall so hard it can kill itself. It had to have been traveling very fast and weigh a lot for a hit like that to result in death. Sad because these Tuna are beautiful fish. For a young child seeing this could have been a fairly traumatizing event. It’s a good thing Tyler is not old enough to understand what was going on.