Category: Pop Culture

Top TV Show Theme Songs – Playlist

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I was listening the Monkee’s new album and it got me thinking about their TV show.  My first thought was what a great theme song they had.  That then led me to think about other TV theme songs and which shows had the best.

To do this, I had to break it up into two categories…those with vocals and those without. There are so many TV shows that had great catchy, theme songs.  Off the top of my head you had the Brady Bunch, The Beverly Hillbillies, Different Strokes, Saved by the Bell and so many more.  My kids would add the song from Full House as well.

Nowadays, I don’t feel that TV show theme songs matter much.  No show seems to focus on that at all.  I feel that a good theme song really adds to the show.

Without further ado, here are my Favorite TV Show Theme Songs:

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Billy Joel – “It’s Still Rock & Roll To Me”

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Did you know that Billy Joel’s song “It’s Still Rock & Roll To Me” was #1 on this date, July 19th, back in the year 1980?  And amazingly was his first #1 single!!  He had been releasing albums since 1971 and this was his first #1???  Incredible!!

If I am not mistaken, it was also his first Gold Record, but the song went on to sell over 2 million copies in the U.S. alone.  It is featured on his album from 1980, ‘Glass Houses’ (which I proudly have on vinyl that I have recently rediscovered).

From what I can gather, the song is about how the press was talking up the “new wave” of music at the time and He thought that this so called “new sound” wasn’t really new but it was just rock. It seems also that the label said he needed to change up his style and sound to stay relevant. He felt he would stay relevant and it didn’t matter how he dressed or what he did.  Below is the video and check out the lyrics below.  Enjoy!

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#TBT – The Coolest Songs of the 80’s – Playlist

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The 80’s was a great time in music for me. It was the time I started really getting obsessed about with it.  There were so many great songs, thanks to the dawn of MTV, during this time. They exposed us to so many more bands that our radio stations were not playing.

There are good songs, great songs, rock songs, dance songs, pop songs and some songs that are just too damn cool.  This list is what I felt were the really cool songs of the decade.  Cool could be the subject matter or the overall sound of the song and of course it is very subjective.  I wasn’t very cool back in the day so my definition of cool might not equal yours.  Come to think of it…I am not cool now.  Oh well, I hope you enjoy the playlist.

Red Rider – “Lunatic Fringe”

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Def Leppard – High & Dry – 35th Anniversary

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Today, July 11th, marks the 35th Anniversary of Def Leppard’s best and heaviest album, ‘High & Dry’.  Everyone knows the albums ‘Pyromania’ and ‘Hysteria’, but the album that started it for me was ‘High & Dry’.  My brother had their first album on vinyl ‘On Through the Night’, but that album didn’t really do much for me.  I liked it, but it was lacking in a lot of areas.

It was this album that changed my views on Def Leppard.  This album is what a Rock & Roll album was supposed to sound like.  Once I heard this album, my world was never the same.  Def Leppard became a part of my life and has not stopped since.

What was so special about this album?  For starters, the producer was the legendary, Mutt Lange.  He went on to produce ‘Pyromania’ and ‘Hysteria’ as well.  Mutt Lange was able to take the elements that were missing on their first album and put them together here.  The improvements from their first album to here are huge.  They sounded like a band that had a plan and an idea of who they were that they didn’t have before.

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Did Genesis rule the 80’s???

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I was exploring the internet the other night when I came across a website that showed the Top 200 artists of the 80’s based on # of weeks on the Hot 100 chart and the # of hits they had on the chart.  I found the list to be extremely interesting and at times surprising at what did or didn’t make the list.  The website was www.rateyourmusic.com  or you can check out the list at this link.

When you go through the list, there will be no surprise at the artist at the top of the list.  It is everyone you would think it would be such as Prince, Michael Jackson, Madonna, Hall & Oates, and Billy Joel (I won’t give you their ranking).  But what I found most interesting was that throughout the list I saw Genesis and most of its members or former members.

Genesis was huge in the 80’s and so was Phil Collins which is no surprise.  Mike Rutherford had a side project during the 80’s called Mike & the Mechanics that also had numerous hits during the 80’s.  And let’s not forget a former member of Genesis, Peter Gabriel.  His resurgence in the 80’s was also quite significant.  Tony Banks was the only member of the band I didn’t see having a hit on the Hot 100 list outside of Genesis.

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Happy 4th of July – Is it time for another Revolution?

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I am not usually political, but I feel this country is screwed no matter who gets elected.  I am not partial to Trump or Clinton.  I think they both suck!!  Since we are celebrating the birthday of our country, I thought I would do a playlist of songs about Revolution rather than going all patriotic.

Something needs to change soon or I fear the country my children are growing up in will be worse off than it is now.  Patriotism doesn’t seem to be a word in anyone’s vocabulary anymore.  Being politically correct, has gone too far in the wrong direction.  Racism seems to be at an all time high, when it should be non-existent.

If you say something nowadays that doesn’t jive with how a handful of people feel is the correct way to think, you get bashed on the internet or blasted in the media or even fired from your job.  Since when does a person’s opinion deserve that treatment.  What happened to freedom of speech.

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P.M. Dawn singer, Attrell Cordes, died June 17th.

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I guess I have been living under a rock this last week because I completely missed the news on the passing of Attrell Cordes, better known as Prince Be from P.M. Dawn.  He was only 46 and died of kidney failure.  I hate that I am already updating my In Memoriam playlist from just over a week ago.  In his memory, I am posting my 3 favorite songs from P.M. Dawn and probably their most famous songs – “I’d Die Without You”, “Looking Through Patient Eyes” and “Set Adrift on Memory Bliss”.

Rest in Peace Mr. Cordes!

The Cassette Picture

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My wife thought my home office could use a new picture.  I love it.  It is a picture of a cassette with a bunch of cassettes from the 80’s such as Poison, Motley Crue, Whitesnake, Michael Jackson and many, many more.

Turntables & Vinyl – Part 2

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I thought I would do a follow-up to the Turntables & Vinyl post from a couple weeks ago since the turntable we bought was crap. We returned the first turntable we bought since it could not maintain the appropriate speed.  I did some research and found that the audio-technica AT-LP60 was getting really good reviews for a reasonably priced turntable (only $99).  I still didn’t want to spend too much as I still wasn’t sure how much I would listen to it.

I have to say it plays so much better than the original one we bought on a whim at the trendy clothes store that sales vinyl (I don’t want to advertise for them since their clothes are so overpriced).  This turntable will automatically place the needle on the album for you which is good as my daughter was really nervous about doing it on the other turntable. I don’t think she wanted to scratch her new James Bay album (a picture disc at that).

Now that the we have a very good working turntable, we had to find some local record stores that sell vinyl.  We have found 4 places so far in Charlotte and I am proud to say, we have been to all 4.  We actually visited 3 of them on Saturday since they were all in close proximity to each other.   The other one we went to last weekend.

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Muhammad Ali – This song is for you

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With the passing of Muhammad Ali, I was trying to think what I could do to honor his memory when my site is supposed to be about all things music.  Well, I came across this video on Youtube with Muhammad Ali introducing one of his favorite songs “Child of the Wilderness” by Michel and felt this was perfect.

Muhammad Ali, this song is for you.