The CBDLESS Music Thread

Those were the days. Although this store is much larger than the two original record stores Pipe Dreams and Beggar's Tune in my old hometown. Then a big one moved in called The Exclusive Company. All gone.

Or were you a member of the Columbia Record Club? I joined once to get a number of LPS for cheap and then regretted it. Why? The selection sucked and the prices did as well.

Good evening Music Thread Fans. There is no truth to the rumor that CBD is attending a Nina Hagen concert this evening.

In our last conversation he said something about maple syrup, French Toast, nutmeg and a fifth of Drambuie. You go and figure that out........

Onto the next the musical topic.

Opinions, as in noses, everybody (except for a leper) has one. From Long Bow vs. Crossbow and Chevrolet vs. Ford, Mary Ann vs. Ginger will this be another AoSHQ dispute?

Who is the greatest song writer and/or song writing team in history?

Off the top of my head I would have to nominate Bob Dylan. However stats say that Paul McCartney holds the Guinness World Record for the most successful songwriter of all time.

Although both artists have music in my collection. Dylan far outnumbers McCartney by quite a large number.

I enjoy humorous, off beat, comical, satirical lyrics. Probably the best of all time is the Late Great Frank Zappa.

Even President Trump appreciates Frank Zappa.

There are a number of other clever lyricists out there at the moment. One of them is the talented Chuck Prophet. He has an interesting outlook. Something about the following lyrics: "When she went her way and I went mine. All these memories like dirty dishes. Stacked up in the sink of time."

The previous song mentioned the Talking Heads. We really do need more Judys and Bobs.

"Damn that television, what a bad picture"
"Don't get upset, it's not a major disaster"
"There's nothing on tonight, " he said, "I don't know what's the matter"
"Nothing's ever on, " she said, "so I don't know why you bother"
We've heard this little scene, we've heard it many times
People fighting over little things and wasting precious time
They might be better off, I think, the way it seems to me
Making up their own shows, which might be better than TV
Judy's in the bedroom, inventing situations
Bob is on the street today, scouting up locations
They've enlisted all their family
They've enlisted all their friends
It helped save their relationship
And made it work again

At first blush one would think this is your typical guy lost gal love song. Great melody and some darn funny lyrics about his loss by the Old 97's.
[Verse 1]

And the hole in the screen
Is barely big enough for you
And not near enough for me to go
And the whole damn complicated
Situation could've been avoided
If I'd only shut the window
[Chorus]
And I may be leaving myself open
To a murder or a heart attack
But I'm leaving the back door open
'Til you come back, 'til you come back
And I may be moving myself closer
To a real untimely end
But I'm leaving the back door open
'Til you come home again, you come home again

You can't have a discussion about songwriting without mentioning Warren Zevon. He wrote a fabulous love song while dying of lung cancer.

Shadows are fallin' and I'm runnin' out of breath
Keep me in your heart for a while
If I leave you it doesn't mean I love you any less
Keep me in your heart for a while
When you get up in the mornin' and you see that crazy sun
Keep me in your heart for a while
There's a train leavin' nightly called "When All is Said and Done"
Keep me in your heart for a while

But also displayed a gruesome sense of humor at times.

I lay my head on the railroad tracks
And wait for the Double E
The railroad don't run no more
Poor, poor pitiful me

No throwing 8 tracks, cassettes and/or reels of tape if you are not in agreement with your host and/or fellow commenters. If you are all good little boys and girls maybe you can head out to Club ONT later on.

Pissing, moaning, complaining, bitching and all other forms and matter of dissatisfaction can be taken up directly with Ace or CBD or someone who may care.

Posted by: Misanthropic Humanitarian (ONT Cob Emeritus) at 07:30 PM

Comments

(Jump to bottom of comments)

1 Right there on the front row Siamese Dream by Smashing Pumpkins, one of the first cds I bought. A great album back when most of the songs were good enough to be singles. I miss those days.

Posted by: Zeno the Stoic at August 16, 2025 07:32 PM (tQigO)

2
Lerner and Loewe

Rodgers and Hammerstein

Posted by: Hadrian the Seventh at August 16, 2025 07:35 PM (kkTda)

3 Member how expensive CD collections were?

Fucking hell, I remember.

Posted by: Aetius451AD at August 16, 2025 07:36 PM (bss/y)

4 Mungo Jerry.

Really MisHum?

Posted by: Aetius451AD at August 16, 2025 07:36 PM (bss/y)

5 I respect Willie Nelson as a great song writer.

Barry Gibb is pretty good too.

Posted by: polynikes at August 16, 2025 07:36 PM (EYmYM)

6 I bought a lot of operas at the Exclusive Company on State Street. They had the best selection by far.

Posted by: tcn in AK at August 16, 2025 07:37 PM (1Gsou)

7 Member how expensive CD collections were?

Fucking hell, I remember.
Posted by: Aetius451AD at August 16, 2025 07:36 PM (bss/y)

If you knew the trick it only cost a penny.

Posted by: polynikes at August 16, 2025 07:37 PM (EYmYM)

8 Barry Gibb is pretty good too.
Posted by: polynikes at August 16, 2025 07:36 PM (EYmYM)

Yeah, but I gotta say I like the DeeGees better than the BeeGees.

Posted by: tcn in AK at August 16, 2025 07:37 PM (1Gsou)

9 The First CD I bought was the Spin Doctors because I liked their hit Pocket Full of Kryptonite

Posted by: polynikes at August 16, 2025 07:39 PM (EYmYM)

10 Songwriters? John Prine, Steve Goodman, Jimmy Buffett (Yeah, I know, but you know all the words to even the dirty ones). Certainly Toby Keith. Roger Daltrey et. al. Ian Anderson. Any and all of Pink Floyd.

Posted by: tcn in AK at August 16, 2025 07:40 PM (1Gsou)

11 Billy Joe Shaver is hands down my favorite song-writer and he's objectively up there with the very best.

I'll just mention Jerry Lee Lewis here as the anti song-writer. He really only ever wrote one: End of The Road. It's really good abd very revealing.

When asked why he never wrote songs he said something quite like: "Those guys are all miserable SOBs and it is really hard".

LMAO Jerry is the best.

Posted by: Thesokorus at August 16, 2025 07:40 PM (z6Ybz)

12 William Shatner sings "Common People"

https://youtu.be/St8FtbzH_JE

Simply glorious.

Posted by: Victor Tango Kilo at August 16, 2025 07:42 PM (+8yWL)

13 Listening to Fleetwood Mac Greatest Hits on CD while driving into work. Yep, still have a CD player in the ole Honda. They probably aren't even offered in new cars now.

youtu.be/HcZp1O4UQY4

Posted by: Puddleglum at work at August 16, 2025 07:42 PM (S8cdb)

14 Nina Hagen! I had the Nina Hagen Band EP on vinyl, man. I also liked NunSexMonkRock.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at August 16, 2025 07:43 PM (kpS4V)

15 The First CD I bought was the Spin Doctors because I liked their hit Pocket Full of Kryptonite
Posted by: polynikes at August 16, 2025 07:39 PM (EYmYM)

Jesus Christ bro I hate that damn song. I think I had to listen to that a million times in HS. Lead singer was a fatty boom batty.

Whatever goodness that song had got wore off after the 500,000 time I heard it at some party.

Posted by: Thesokorus at August 16, 2025 07:43 PM (z6Ybz)

16 Mary Robbins wrote El Paso, the greatest western song of all time, and a whole bunch of others that are in contention. He was also a great singer.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UgyCuDdLrbw

Posted by: huerfano at August 16, 2025 07:44 PM (98kQX)

17 David Baerwald was a decent song writer.

youtu.be/N-hIOKaNfzI

Posted by: Puddleglum at work at August 16, 2025 07:45 PM (S8cdb)

18
No one here likes Alternative Metal, or are all You People too old to listen to anything created after 1985?

Posted by: Soothsayer at August 16, 2025 07:45 PM (XSnft)

19 I'll bet you meant "Marty."

Posted by: tcn in AK at August 16, 2025 07:45 PM (1Gsou)

20 I've been on a weird Michael McDonald kick. I am getting old as hell and turning into a black guy I guess. Idk. But that dude is fantastic. Time was I 'd have lost my mind if anyone tried to out that on thinking it was cheezy anad lame as hell but no it is incredible.

Posted by: Thesokorus at August 16, 2025 07:46 PM (z6Ybz)

21 12 William Shatner sings "Common People"

https://youtu.be/St8FtbzH_JE

Simply glorious.
Posted by: Victor Tango Kilo at August 16, 2025 07:42 PM (+8yWL)

This

Posted by: blaster at August 16, 2025 07:46 PM (RoO7G)

22 And Steve Goodman wrote the best country-western song. According to David Allen Coe.

Posted by: tcn in AK at August 16, 2025 07:46 PM (1Gsou)

23 The Moody Blues penned some good stuff. And some pretentious shit, but some good stuff.

Posted by: tcn in AK at August 16, 2025 07:47 PM (1Gsou)

24 Shatner blocked Nerdrotic.

Posted by: Boss Moss at August 16, 2025 07:47 PM (x/72w)

25 Kris Kristofferson couldn't sing his way out of a box, but he was a damn solid song writer.

Posted by: Puddleglum at work at August 16, 2025 07:47 PM (S8cdb)

26 If you're nostalgic for vinyl, Walmart and Best Buy still have that as physical media to sell.

Best Buy no longer has CDs, DVDs or anything else physical.

Posted by: BeckoningChasm at August 16, 2025 07:48 PM (CHHv1)

27 But far and away best songwriter is Fred Schneider

Posted by: blaster at August 16, 2025 07:48 PM (RoO7G)

28 24: Well, he's in his 90s now. His skin is even thinner now.

Posted by: Puddleglum at work at August 16, 2025 07:48 PM (S8cdb)

29 Good evening everyone

Posted by: Skip at August 16, 2025 07:48 PM (+qU29)

30 >>I'll bet you meant "Marty."

Posted by: tcn in AK at August 16, 2025 07:45 PM

My spelling is good. My typing not so munch.

Posted by: huerfano at August 16, 2025 07:49 PM (98kQX)

31 Warren Zevon was the best.

Posted by: 496 at August 16, 2025 07:49 PM (ICj+9)

32 21 12 William Shatner sings "Common People"

https://youtu.be/St8FtbzH_JE

----

Holy crap is that angry young man Joe Jackson?!

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at August 16, 2025 07:49 PM (kpS4V)

33 Apocalyptica

Posted by: TheCatAttackedMyFoot at August 16, 2025 07:49 PM (jrgJz)

34 The greatest songwriter of all time is Dylan. Check out how many of his songs have been covered, even by your favorite band. Nobody comes close.

But a close second for me is Robert Hunter.

Posted by: JackStraw at August 16, 2025 07:50 PM (viF8m)

35 Right there on the front row Siamese Dream by Smashing Pumpkins, one of the first cds I bought. A great album back when most of the songs were good enough to be singles. I miss those days.
Posted by: Zeno the Stoic

Noticed that, too. Great album. And I've always loved the video for Rocket.

Posted by: She Hobbit at August 16, 2025 07:50 PM (qQ+q3)

36 I'm watching "The UnXplained" hosted by The Shat. He is without peer.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at August 16, 2025 07:51 PM (kpS4V)

37 Yeah, but I gotta say I like the DeeGees better than the BeeGees.
Posted by: tcn in AK at August 16, 2025 07:37 PM (1Gsou)

The Foo Fighters did a great job being a BeeGees cover band but I wish they would have made the songs their own instead. . They were almost spot on imitation.

Posted by: polynikes at August 16, 2025 07:51 PM (EYmYM)

38 Mary Robbins wrote El Paso, the greatest western song of all time, and a whole bunch of others that are in contention. He was also a great singer.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UgyCuDdLrbw

Posted by: huerfano at August 16, 2025 07:44 PM (98kQX)

That is a truly great Western song but the greatest is Robert Earl Keen's Feelin Good Again or the standard Is Anybody Goin to San Antone (Doug Sahm has my fav version(s))

Posted by: Thesokorus at August 16, 2025 07:51 PM (z6Ybz)

39 Have a number ov vinyl records, know of a few shops around who would buy them if I wanted to get rid of them.

Posted by: Skip at August 16, 2025 07:51 PM (+qU29)

40
Mystery 80's lyrics dedicated to all the jerkoffs who are very upset at ending the agression in ukraine:

Generals gathered in their masses
Just like witches at black masses

Posted by: Soothsayer at August 16, 2025 07:52 PM (XSnft)

41
Gave away some 400 CDs to the homeschooling group at church. Getting about 300 more ready to send to my brother so he can donate them elsewhere. Which leaves me with a couple hundred.

Posted by: Hadrian the Seventh at August 16, 2025 07:52 PM (kkTda)

42 2 -- Hadrian -- The great Broadway musicals. I still remember many a song from those days.

Posted by: Captain Josepha Sabin at August 16, 2025 07:53 PM (981gi)

43 >>Mary Robbins wrote El Paso, the greatest western song of all time, and a whole bunch of others that are in contention. He was also a great singer.

One of my favorite Dead covers.

Posted by: JackStraw at August 16, 2025 07:53 PM (viF8m)

44 I always thought Joe Walsh's lyrics for Life's Been Good were some of the best 'funny' lyrics.

My Maserati does one-eighty-five
I lost my license, now I don't drive
Still makes me smile.
Simple, straight to the point, witty.

Jack Johnson's lyrics and lyrical flow also impress me.
I wouldn't consider him to be the best songwriter of all time, but I always pay attention to his lyrics because I love his style and rhythm.

Sitting, Waiting, Wishing is a particular favorite for that reason:

https://youtu.be/8chU09dsPWU

Posted by: SpeakingOf at August 16, 2025 07:54 PM (6ydKt)

45 25 Kris Kristofferson couldn't sing his way out of a box, but he was a damn solid song writer.
Posted by: Puddleglum at work at August 16, 2025 07:47 PM (S8cdb)

CIA agent but yeah he was actually prob the best pound for pound songwriter.

Waylon's (pbuh) version of Lovin Her Was the Easiest Thing I'll Ever Do Again just kills me everytime.

Posted by: Thesokorus at August 16, 2025 07:54 PM (z6Ybz)

46 While miles away from the lyrical stylings most have already heaped justified praise upon, Neil Peart has had my head in the stars with the words he employs to take you exactly where he wants you.

He was good at that other thing as well.

Posted by: Coldwarvet at August 16, 2025 07:56 PM (7t0kC)

47 The Hee Bee Gee Bees, "Meaningless Songs in Very High Voices":

https://tinyurl.com/4ua83nat

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at August 16, 2025 07:56 PM (kpS4V)

48 Willie Nelson wrote 25 songs that reached #1. That ain’t bad.

Posted by: polynikes at August 16, 2025 07:56 PM (EYmYM)

49 "This is your correspondent
Running out of tape
Gunfire's increasing
Looting, burning, rape."

Posted by: BeckoningChasm at August 16, 2025 07:56 PM (CHHv1)

50 Say it with me - the Exclusive Company!

Mr. Giombetti died a year or two ago, I believe.

Posted by: The Neon Madman at August 16, 2025 07:57 PM (yNfcm)

51 >>That is a truly great Western song but the greatest is Robert Earl Keen's Feelin Good Again or the standard Is Anybody Goin to San Antone (Doug Sahm has my fav version(s))

Posted by: Thesokorus at August 16, 2025 07:51 PM

I do love Feelin' Good Again, but my favorite of Keen's is New Life in Old Mexico.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yuoE-mUaAbw

Posted by: huerfano at August 16, 2025 07:58 PM (98kQX)

52 Too modern. The greatest team was Schikaneder and Mozart.

Posted by: Eeyore at August 16, 2025 07:58 PM (s0JqF)

53 Kate Bush, Lindsey Buckingham, Peter Gabriel all very under-rated as song-writers.

Posted by: Thesokorus at August 16, 2025 08:00 PM (z6Ybz)

54 I still enjoy browsing record stores. I grew up going to the Tower records in Hollywood. There isn't really anything on that scale anymore. But, I live in Nashville and there are several good record stores. Two of them are record stores/bars which is more fun.

Posted by: Tennessee Jed at August 16, 2025 08:00 PM (CLS0Q)

55 40
Mystery 80's lyrics dedicated to all the jerkoffs who are very upset at ending the agression in ukraine:

Generals gathered in their masses
Just like witches at black masses
Posted by: Soothsayer

80s? Will assume you're being sarcastic. ;-)

Posted by: Puddleglum at work at August 16, 2025 08:01 PM (S8cdb)

56 Posted by: SpeakingOf at August 16, 2025 07:54 PM (6ydKt)

He was great on Daryl’s House. Probably my favorite episode if it wasn’t for Grace Potter’s appearance in a sweater miniskirt .

Posted by: polynikes at August 16, 2025 08:01 PM (EYmYM)

57 Numerous times hit record stores on Tuesday for new releases

Posted by: Skip at August 16, 2025 08:01 PM (+qU29)

58
1880's, then?

Posted by: Soothsayer at August 16, 2025 08:02 PM (XSnft)

59 51 >>That is a truly great Western song but the greatest is Robert Earl Keen's Feelin Good Again or the standard Is Anybody Goin to San Antone (Doug Sahm has my fav version(s))

Posted by: Thesokorus at August 16, 2025 07:51 PM

I do love Feelin' Good Again, but my favorite of Keen's is New Life in Old Mexico.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yuoE-mUaAbw
Posted by: huerfano at August 16, 2025 07:58 PM (98kQX)

Killer. "Corpus Christi Bay" is great too. His cover of "Tom Ames' Prayer" is an all time Fave.

Posted by: Thesokorus at August 16, 2025 08:02 PM (z6Ybz)

60 Midnight Moonlight - Peter Rowan

https://tinyurl.com/bddwh2xu

Posted by: JackStraw at August 16, 2025 08:02 PM (viF8m)

61 Neil Young wrote several amazing songs.

Posted by: nurse ratched at August 16, 2025 08:02 PM (mT+6a)

62 My favorite lyrical country song is relatively newer.

Almost Home by Craig Morgan.

Posted by: polynikes at August 16, 2025 08:03 PM (EYmYM)

63 46 While miles away from the lyrical stylings most have already heaped justified praise upon, Neil Peart has had my head in the stars with the words he employs to take you exactly where he wants you.

He was good at that other thing as well.
Posted by: Coldwarvet

His lyrics for 'Time Stand Still' are underrated. Beautifully written song about the passage of time.

Posted by: Puddleglum at work at August 16, 2025 08:03 PM (S8cdb)

64 "Warren Zevon was the best."

-----

You beat me to it.

"Roland the Headless Thompson Gunner" should be an AoS favorite.

Posted by: Taro Tsujimoto at August 16, 2025 08:04 PM (5YmYl)

65 Neil Diamond was a pretty good songwriter.

Posted by: steevy at August 16, 2025 08:04 PM (YwEeS)

66 I'm not sure that there's a single "greatest". Songs are for different purposes.

For what he does, I'd name Dylan as the best.

Same for McCartney/Lennon.

For down and dirty rock grooves? Jagger/Richards.

"When you call my name, I salivate like a Pavlov dog."

Posted by: Rodrigo Borgia at August 16, 2025 08:05 PM (qpyNK)

67 My first 8 track was Aerosmith Toys in the Attic. I don’t know why because I was more into pop music when I was in Jr High /High School and don’t apologize for it. Still am since my favorite genre is what I call pop punk.

Posted by: polynikes at August 16, 2025 08:06 PM (EYmYM)

68 His lyrics for 'Time Stand Still' are underrated. Beautifully written song about the passage of time.
Posted by: Puddleglum

And inspiration for Kumalala?

Posted by: She Hobbit at August 16, 2025 08:06 PM (qQ+q3)

69 Neil Diamond was a pretty good songwriter.
Posted by: steevy at August 16, 2025 08:04 PM (YwEeS)

I agree.

Posted by: polynikes at August 16, 2025 08:06 PM (EYmYM)

70 Some 'Best Buy' stores _still_ carry a limited amount of LPs, especially the ones with 'Magnolia' / 'Premium Design Center' rooms. So do Target and Walmart, for a moderate selection of pop / rock LPs...

Posted by: gdgm+ at August 16, 2025 08:07 PM (C5GSe)

71 Used to hit Rose Records in the Loop from time to time during the years I worked at Kroch's & Brentano's -- would have hit it more often, but usually spent a lot of the ready $$$ on books at the store before I had a chance to blow it at Rose. Later became a Tower Records, and then gone. Columbia Record Club - yep, but not for long.

Can't remember the first CD I bought. The first 45, though, was Monkey Time (Major Lance) (must have had a vision of lurking at the Morning Rants) at the long gone Polk Brothers near 63rd & Kedzie in Chicago Lawn -- or was it one of Dell Shannon's records? Beats me, I've slept since then. Songwriters? Kinda liked a bunch of Jim Webb's stuff for The Fifth Dimension and Glen Campbell, and Terry Kirkman's for The Association, and some of Paul Simon's, and the Moody Blues. Lotta nice stuff in Jacques Brel Is Alive and Well and Living in Paris. I'm not really up on anything current and probably never will be. I'll stay off your lawn if you'll stay off mine.

Posted by: Just Some Guy at August 16, 2025 08:07 PM (q3u5l)

72 Guy Clark wrote too many good songs to name them all, but his favorite is She Ain't Going Nowhere.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dwtiYrtP4A0

Posted by: huerfano at August 16, 2025 08:07 PM (98kQX)

73 Jim Croce was no slouch.... he had a very wide range -- from Leroy Brown to Time in a Bottle.

Posted by: Rodrigo Borgia at August 16, 2025 08:07 PM (qpyNK)

74 I still like CDs and DVDs. If you can't lay your grubby hands on it, you don't really own it.

Around here, we used to have Camelot Records. They've been gone for years.

Posted by: Retired Buckeye Cop is now an engineer at August 16, 2025 08:08 PM (pJWtt)

75 His lyrics for 'Time Stand Still' are underrated. Beautifully written song about the passage of time.

Posted by: Puddleglum at work at August 16, 2025 08:03 PM (S8cdb)

"The Garden" best encapsulates the passing of time into death. Floored the first time I head it.

Posted by: Coldwarvet at August 16, 2025 08:09 PM (7t0kC)

76 >>My first 8 track was Aerosmith Toys in the Attic. I don’t know why because I was more into pop music when I was in Jr High /High School and don’t apologize for it. Still am since my favorite genre is what I call pop punk

Aerosmith played in the gym at the town next to mine when I was in junior high. Joe Perry ended up being a neighbor.

Posted by: JackStraw at August 16, 2025 08:09 PM (viF8m)

77 First 45 I had was Sugar Sugar by the Archie’s stolen from Pam Green by my babysitter and left at my house. I know that because I still have it and Pam Green wrote her name across the label .

Posted by: polynikes at August 16, 2025 08:10 PM (EYmYM)

78 I was 5 when I got my first album.
Saturday Night Fever soundtrack.

My kindergarten principal loved it at the Christmas party.

A few years later I got Michael Jackson's Thriller, like 32 million other Americans by 1984.
MJ & that album were a cultural phenomenon for a few years.

After that I didn't really start listening to music a lot until my teens and I bought a lot of cassettes and CDs.

Posted by: SpeakingOf at August 16, 2025 08:10 PM (6ydKt)

79
Jackstraw probably remembers the STRAWBERRIES stores.

Posted by: Soothsayer at August 16, 2025 08:10 PM (XSnft)

80 The songwriter I'm thinking of is better than yours. I'm not even going to say the name, because there can be no argument. Just know that I'm right.

Posted by: Don Black at August 16, 2025 08:11 PM (AOsQT)

81 Jim Croce was no slouch.... he had a very wide range -- from Leroy Brown to Time in a Bottle.

Posted by: Rodrigo Borgia at August 16, 2025 08:07 PM (qpyNK)

Yeah but he plagiarized himself with Don’t Mess Around With Jim.

Posted by: polynikes at August 16, 2025 08:11 PM (EYmYM)

82 Lyrics? We're doing lyrics?

She was only a girl
I know that well, but still I could not see
That the hold that she had
Was much stronger than the love she felt for me
But staying with her
And my little bit of wisdom
Broke down her desires
Like a light through a prism
Into yellows and blues and a tune
That I could not have sung

[Bridge]
Though the essence is gone
I have no tears to cry for her
And my only thoughts of her are kind

Posted by: M. Nesmith at August 16, 2025 08:12 PM (XeU6L)

83 >>Jackstraw probably remembers the STRAWBERRIES stores.

I do.

Posted by: JackStraw at August 16, 2025 08:12 PM (viF8m)

84 I still have my Pioneer RT-909 reel to reel, that sadly is in need of some work. All the rubber and plastic looks like 40 plus year old rubber and plastic.

Still have the core of my albums from my youth. Core being the albums I lugged to Germany and then lugged back. Some were played 1 time then put in plastic sleeves to never be played again.

Posted by: Coldwarvet at August 16, 2025 08:13 PM (7t0kC)

85 Going back a while, Woody Guthrie was pretty good for a communist.

Stephen Foster's songs are still sung 150 years later.

Posted by: Rodrigo Borgia at August 16, 2025 08:13 PM (qpyNK)

86 Guy Clark wrote too many good songs to name them all, but his favorite is She Ain't Going Nowhere.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dwtiYrtP4A0
Posted by: huerfano at August 16, 2025

Bro LA Freeway c'mon man. Jerry Jeff killed that song. And the band on this version!

https://youtu.be/NRha4L-t1mY?si=yyy4ZIrgedL38pu7

Posted by: Thesokorus at August 16, 2025 08:14 PM (z6Ybz)

87 Of those who collect CDs and vinyl records, who uses discogs.com?

Posted by: NemoMeImpuneLacessit at August 16, 2025 08:14 PM (ZVgZ4)

88 Burt Bacharach and Carole King

Posted by: polynikes at August 16, 2025 08:15 PM (EYmYM)

89 I still have my Pioneer RT-909 reel to reel, that sadly is in need of some work. All the rubber and plastic looks like 40 plus year old rubber and plastic.

Posted by: Coldwarvet at August 16, 2025 08:13 PM (7t0kC)
---
Sounds like a good project for today's Hobby Thread.

Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at August 16, 2025 08:15 PM (IBQGV)

90 I do miss 'record stores'. It was always fun to go inside and browse, find that new album. I remember a place in Langley Park called The Music Box- it had listening booths where you could listen to 45s before buying.

It's probably an Ethiopian restaurant now.

Posted by: Don Black at August 16, 2025 08:15 PM (AOsQT)

91 He was great on Daryl’s House. Probably my favorite episode if it wasn’t for Grace Potter’s appearance in a sweater miniskirt .

Posted by: polynikes at August 16, 2025 08:01 PM (EYmYM)

I've watched the one episode with Darius Rucker that Daryl did from his house in Charleston.

I'm looking at a clip of the Joe Walsh show on YT now.
Not sure if I can see the entire episode.

Maybe I won't see Grace Potter.

Posted by: SpeakingOf at August 16, 2025 08:16 PM (6ydKt)

92 I did become a Van Morrison fan after listening to his Best Of.

Posted by: polynikes at August 16, 2025 08:16 PM (EYmYM)

93 Not much of a music fan here, but I do miss the music stores where you could put your hands on an album and maybr buy it just for the hell of it. Like browsing in a well-stocked book store.

Posted by: Itinerant Alley Butcher at August 16, 2025 08:17 PM (/lPRQ)

94 Maybe I won't see Grace Potter.
Posted by: SpeakingOf at August 16, 2025 08:16 PM (6ydKt)

Grace Potter had her own episode. What I wrote could be confusing.

Posted by: polynikes at August 16, 2025 08:18 PM (EYmYM)

95 Here's the clip with Joe Walsh and Life's Been Good from Live at Daryl's House.

https://youtu.be/eUvvpghxSb8

Posted by: SpeakingOf at August 16, 2025 08:19 PM (6ydKt)

96 Hahah. I saw Van Morrison in concert and the band was all certified professional bad asses and they were terrified before it started. Heh. He was great but can be hit or miss I have heard.

Posted by: Thesokorus at August 16, 2025 08:19 PM (z6Ybz)

97 44 - Joe Walsh wrote some deep shit. And also ILBT.

Posted by: Biff Pocoroba at August 16, 2025 08:20 PM (XvL8K)

98 Or were you a member of the Columbia Record Club?

I was. I first heard Boz Scaggs from Down Two Then Left, which I got on cassette from them, as their selection of the month. I don’t remember what made me choose to accept that one; I usually sent back the card that said, no. Wonderful album, and not his best.

I found one or two other artists I’d never heard before that way. I don’t remember being disappointed by any of the monthly selections I chose to receive.

Posted by: Stephen Price Blair at August 16, 2025 08:21 PM (olroh)

99 ”And the beer I had for breakfast, wasn’t bad, so I had one more for dessert”

Such a great line. It’s a fun tune to play. Capo on 6, D and G and A chord shapes, and the bane of beginners everywhere - the dreaded B minor.

I know he’s not popular here, however no discussion would be complete without Neil Young. I don’t think anyone is in his tree either.

Posted by: Common Tater at August 16, 2025 08:21 PM (iKvcM)

100 Okay, I'm not familiar with Grace Potter at all, but going by an image search, I don't see anything at all wrong with her in a miniskirt. Her legs are maybe a little stocky for some people's tastes, but not at all bad. Definitely not so bad that I'd hate seeing her in a miniskirt.

Posted by: Rodrigo Borgia at August 16, 2025 08:21 PM (qpyNK)

101 75:"The Garden" best encapsulates the passing of time into death. Floored the first time I head it.
Posted by: Coldwarvet

Considering it was written on the final Rush album, near the end of Neil's life, yes, a very poignant song.

Posted by: Puddleglum at work at August 16, 2025 08:21 PM (S8cdb)

102 Of those who collect CDs and vinyl records, who uses discogs.com?

I use them to try to get a year for albums that don’t mention when they were published. That’s about it. Sometimes to get the dates of individual tracks on collections.

Posted by: Stephen Price Blair at August 16, 2025 08:22 PM (olroh)

103 My roommates and I had stacks of LPs in the corners of our rooms. Many were lost in the Lighting of the Joints and Inadvertently Flaming On the Ceiling Parachute Canopy Great Fire of '73.

IIRC, someone even threw the bong water on the flames.

Not a great evening but we became legendary in any case.

Posted by: Tonypete at August 16, 2025 08:22 PM (cYBz/)

104 92 I did become a Van Morrison fan after listening to his Best Of.

Posted by: polynikes at August 16, 2025 08:16 PM (EYmYM)

Into the Mystic is one of my favorite songs.

Brown-Eyed Girl is up there, too.

Posted by: SpeakingOf at August 16, 2025 08:23 PM (6ydKt)

105 Some guardrails to best songwriters: significant catalog, had great influence on other songwriters, definitive for a time period, music has endured.

Some Candidates:
Irving Berlin
Johnny Mercer
Jerome Kern
Rodgers and Hart
Cole Porter
Hoagy Carmichel
Chuck Berry
Sam Cooke
Barry Mann / Cynthia Weill
Lennon / McCartney
Bob Dylan
Leonard Cohen
Bruce Springsteen
Richard Thompson
Jeff Lynne
Tom Petty

For me the definitive decade was the 1960s which leads to Dylan and Lennon / McCartney. Dylan was more the master poet while Lennon / McCartney were the master musical craftsmen. I call this one a tie; together they dominated everything.

Prior to that the 30s and 40s when the great standards came to be. Berlin, Mercer, Porter, and Rodgers/Hart all made extraordinary contributions. Again they are all equal.

Chuck Berry is the inflection point between these two. He obsoleted one and seeded the ground for the second. He is known for 28 songs but those songs are the most influential of the 20th Century whose influence still reverberates today. He my pick for greatest.

Posted by: Alteria Pilgram - My President has convictions. at August 16, 2025 08:23 PM (9vYpt)

106 Got a CD player in my truck, also USB capable.

Posted by: Cow Demon at August 16, 2025 08:24 PM (vm8sq)

107 I swear I listen to music other than Smashing Pumpkins, but... they have some very interesting lyrics. Like this from Ava Adore:

Lovely girl, you're the murder in my world
Dressing coffins for the souls I've left to die
Drinking mercury to the mystery
Of all that you should ever leave behind
In time

Posted by: She Hobbit at August 16, 2025 08:24 PM (qQ+q3)

108 The Tower Record store near George Washington U in DC was huge. Three floors of music. Loved visiting it and just roaming around. Bought quite a few CDs there. It's gone now.

Posted by: Puddleglum at work at August 16, 2025 08:25 PM (S8cdb)

109 Posted by: Rodrigo Borgia at August 16, 2025 08:21 PM (qpyNK)

Again my post was confusing. Her Daryl’s House episode was my favorite because of her miniskirt. She was at her peak when she made that guest appearance, she’s a good singer too.

Posted by: polynikes at August 16, 2025 08:25 PM (EYmYM)

110 If memory serves, the late Nancy Lamott did an album of Johnny Mercer songs -- nice stuff on that one.

Posted by: Just Some Guy at August 16, 2025 08:26 PM (q3u5l)

111 >>I did become a Van Morrison fan after listening to his Best Of.

When he first came to the states he played a lot of small venues around Boston which had a really big music scene in the 70s and 80s. Lots of clubs and bands and a really pioneering radio station, WBCN, that helped promote emerging artists and played awesome music a lot of stations wouldn't touch because it didn't fit the format. Years later I saw him play at the Hatch Shell on the Esplanade in front of thousands.

Talented guy.

https://tinyurl.com/2cs2yu5n

Posted by: JackStraw at August 16, 2025 08:27 PM (viF8m)

112 Somebody last week mentioned they hauled a vintage component stereo system out of the attic or whatever with the intention of gifting it to his son, something like that.

Unfortunately this is asking for trouble. Electronics do not fare well being left idle for long periods. The power supply electrolytic capacitors are prone to failure. If you’re handy with a soldering iron they are not especially difficult to replace, but is something to beware of.

Do not plug in vintage electronics to “see if it works”.

Posted by: Common Tater at August 16, 2025 08:27 PM (iKvcM)

113 108 The Tower Record store near George Washington U in DC was huge. Three floors of music. Loved visiting it and just roaming around. Bought quite a few CDs there. It's gone now.
Posted by: Puddleglum at work at August 16, 2025 08:25 PM (S8cdb)

I miss it all. That and huge bookstores.

Posted by: Aetius451AD at August 16, 2025 08:27 PM (bss/y)

114 68 His lyrics for 'Time Stand Still' are underrated. Beautifully written song about the passage of time.
Posted by: Puddleglum

Bullshit. There is no such song.

Posted by: Cow Demon at August 16, 2025 08:27 PM (vm8sq)

115 I love music of every kind, except rap, but my husbands best frien LOVES music. Old rock. We were at an antique store in Bisbee Arizona that had LP records. Three hours later we had to drag him and all his "precious" out of there. We still laugh about it.

Posted by: Megthered at August 16, 2025 08:28 PM (6CZ6s)

116 107 I swear I listen to music other than Smashing Pumpkins, but... they have some very interesting lyrics.

Posted by: She Hobbit at August 16, 2025 08:24 PM (qQ+q3)

---
I have two of their CDs.

Siamese Dream
and
Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness

Haven't really listened to much after those two.

They were a great band in the mid-90s if you were into grunge and indie rock.

Posted by: SpeakingOf at August 16, 2025 08:28 PM (6ydKt)

117 Got a CD player in my truck, also USB capable.

Yup. I looked into getting a better double-DIN stereo for my car last year; but nothing comes with CD, USB, and SD Cards any more. And I’m not willing to give that up. Nice to be able to play CDs right out of the gate when I pick something new up at a record store, antique store, or thrift store.

I ended up getting a standalone CarPlay screen that mounts in the cupholder, for navigation.

Posted by: Stephen Price Blair at August 16, 2025 08:28 PM (olroh)

118 Nonexistent songs aside, Prof. Neil E. Peart is a world renowned Canadian poet and percussionist.

Posted by: Cow Demon at August 16, 2025 08:29 PM (vm8sq)

119 >The Tower Record store near George Washington U in DC was huge.

---

on Wisconsin Ave ?

Posted by: Don Black at August 16, 2025 08:29 PM (AOsQT)

120 I see Warren Zevon is on the list. I have recalled the hit squad.

Posted by: Idaho Spudboy at August 16, 2025 08:29 PM (/3eFd)

121 The Hagen cut was wonderful! She is my favorite East German import, tied with Katarina Witt.

The Muffin Man is also wonderful. Thanks.

They had record stores when you were a teen? I'd have guessed Edison cylinders. Maybe early 78s, but the real breakthrough was electric microphone around 1929. Husker du?

Posted by: Old Man Adams at August 16, 2025 08:31 PM (G5+As)

122 Into the Mystic is one of my favorite songs.
——-

I read an interesting article on that tune, something to the effect that, get this, surgeons like to play that because it is such a relaxing song and helps keep them from getting agitated on the tricky parts of their slicing and dicing.

Posted by: Common Tater at August 16, 2025 08:31 PM (iKvcM)

123 My Buick has cassette and CD...and it's not even 29...yet.

Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at August 16, 2025 08:31 PM (XeU6L)

124 Back in 80s Warren Zevon was going out with a Philadelphia DJ, no way going to remember her name

Posted by: Skip at August 16, 2025 08:31 PM (+qU29)

125 We were at an antique store in Bisbee Arizona that had LP records.

I think I have a cousin who just moved out there, or nearby. Somewhere south of I-10 and Benson. (I still miss Reb’s Cafe in Benson!)

Posted by: Stephen Price Blair at August 16, 2025 08:32 PM (olroh)

126 I have Kiln House on now. I bought an iPod classic and two Bose Sound Docks off ebay. That is my new music system. I had some stuff that I bought on itunes that I haven't listened to in awhile. Sometimes old tech is good enough

Posted by: Notsothoreau at August 16, 2025 08:32 PM (kUxzU)

127 There was a store in Rochester NY, called house of guitars. I used to go there when I was in the area. Guitar players from different bands were always stopping in when they were in the area. their motto was "The store that ate my brain". Flooded with guitars, just tons of them. Downstairs was the record store, and that place was just as insane. 1000's of records. It's still there.

Posted by: Berserker-Dragonheads Division at August 16, 2025 08:33 PM (snZF9)

128 The songwriting team of Hunter/Garcia was quite prolific and Robert Hunter was one of the best lyricists/poets of the second half of the 20th century.

Posted by: Terrapin Station at August 16, 2025 08:33 PM (G5+As)

129 104 92 I did become a Van Morrison fan after listening to his Best Of.

Posted by: polynikes at August 16, 2025 08:16 PM (EYmYM)

Into the Mystic is one of my favorite songs.

Brown-Eyed Girl is up there, too.
Posted by: SpeakingOf a
======
Van Morrison is a singular talent and immediately recognizable when he sings.

Astral Weeks and Moondance with Tupelo Honey coming in a close third are my favorite albums of his.

And Robby Robertson when the Band was together with Levon on the drums was also something unique.

John Fogerty is another one.

TCN in AK, Roger Daltrey only had a couple of song writing credits--Pete Townshend and to a lesser extent, John Entwistle wrote virtually all of the Who songs. I think Keith Moon got song writing credit for Cob Webs and Strange.

Posted by: whig at August 16, 2025 08:34 PM (ctrM5)

130 117 Got a CD player in my truck, also USB capable.

Yup. I looked into getting a better double-DIN stereo for my car last year; but nothing comes with CD, USB, and SD Cards any more. And I’m not willing to give that up. Nice to be able to play CDs right out of the gate when I pick something new up at a record store, antique store, or thrift store.

I ended up getting a standalone CarPlay screen that mounts in the cupholder, for navigation.
Posted by: Stephen Price Blair
======
Go to Crutchfield dot com. Stereo specialists including cars for over 40 years or so.

Posted by: whig at August 16, 2025 08:35 PM (ctrM5)

131 Back in the day my friends and I would hit the mall, conveniently adjacent to the school. We would hit four places, all of us being nerds and social outcasts: Waldenbooks, B. Dalton’s…and Hastings and Tower Records. Further conveniently, both were stacked right on top of each other. Hastings was Level One, Tower Records was Level Two.

Perfect for a young teenage headbanger. My father tried in vain to ban evil heavy metal from the house. He was not happy when I got the “HELL AWAITS” album with my own money from my job and there was not a damn thing he could do.

Posted by: Cow Demon at August 16, 2025 08:35 PM (vm8sq)

132 We had Music Millenium in Portland. Lots of records and interesting jewelry.

Posted by: Notsothoreau at August 16, 2025 08:35 PM (kUxzU)

133 I joined the Columbia record club to get the stack of cheap records also. My friends told me that because I was a minor they couldn't hold me to the agreement. My friends said to tell Columbia to go screw themselves (that's what they did). But I was a good boy and fulfilled my agreement.

Posted by: call me mister tibbs at August 16, 2025 08:35 PM (XSpKf)

134 My long dead cat and dog both still owe Columbia and BMG money.
I made good on mine.

Posted by: Reforger at August 16, 2025 08:36 PM (pxUkb)

135 119 >The Tower Record store near George Washington U in DC was huge.

---

on Wisconsin Ave ?
Posted by: Don Black

I don't think so. Pennsylvania Ave and ???. Been a long time since I've been in that area.

Posted by: Puddleglum at work at August 16, 2025 08:36 PM (S8cdb)

136 Besides using discogs.com to look up specific recordings, they also link to new and used music sellers which one can order from worldwide, via their links with PayPal. Have successfully found a few items that were otherwise not easy to locate.

Posted by: gdgm+ at August 16, 2025 08:37 PM (C5GSe)

137 >>The songwriting team of Hunter/Garcia was quite prolific and Robert Hunter was one of the best lyricists/poets of the second half of the 20th century.

Been saying.

https://tinyurl.com/4c53ut5e

Posted by: JackStraw at August 16, 2025 08:37 PM (viF8m)

138 My father tried in vain to ban evil heavy metal from the house. He was not happy when I got the “HELL AWAITS” album with my own money from my job and there was not a damn thing he could do.

Posted by: Cow Demon at August 16, 2025 08:35 PM (vm8sq)

SLAYER!

Posted by: Berserker-Dragonheads Division at August 16, 2025 08:38 PM (snZF9)

139 Janie's Got a Gun, the simplest of lyrics can be profoundly moving.

Posted by: Braenyard - some Absent Friends are more equal than others _ at August 16, 2025 08:38 PM (R0Sr5)

140 Vinyl scratched. Reel-to-reel backups helped.

8-tracks were designed to fail and thus be repurchased.

Cassette tapes: Better, but when the wheels got stiff, you could end up with the tape getting all scrunched up in the mechanism of the player and... buy it again. So you bought a dual deck, and made backup copies that you played.

And that brought the glory of mix tapes.

Then came CDs, and we were back to getting scratched again, but... CD-Rs came out. Make your own copies. Horribly expensive at first, and the mastering software kinda sucked, and the writers were VERY temperamental... Things got better over time. Costs came down too.

And then came LAME and the ability to rip CD's to MP3s (so of course I went with 320 bit ones for the entire collection, which took me months to do) And I had to build a custom server with 3 full height 5.25" 9 gigabyte SCSI drives just to hold it all. 27 Gigs of hot running huge storage (it was huge for the time.) Now small little usb sticks have more storage.

Ah memories of an advancing digital age with respect to music.

No, I don't do streaming. I've got what I've got the way I wanted, and I'm happy with this.

Posted by: Grumpy and Recalcitrant at August 16, 2025 08:39 PM (O7YUW)

141 100 Okay, I'm not familiar with Grace Potter at all, but going by an image search, I don't see anything at all wrong with her in a miniskirt. Her legs are maybe a little stocky for some people's tastes, but not at all bad. Definitely not so bad that I'd hate seeing her in a miniskirt.

Posted by: Rodrigo Borgia at August 16, 2025 08:21 PM (qpyNK)

Nah. She’s hot. And this past June 20, she hit…Level 42.

Posted by: Cow Demon at August 16, 2025 08:39 PM (vm8sq)

142 Leonard Cohen's Dance Me to the End of Love is a marvelous song.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EImVucJO7Ok

Posted by: huerfano at August 16, 2025 08:40 PM (98kQX)

143 139 Janie's Got a Gun, the simplest of lyrics can be profoundly moving.

Posted by: Braenyard - some Absent Friends are more equal than others _ at August 16, 2025 08:38 PM (R0Sr5)

That song, like all post-drugs Aerosmith, was beaten to fuckin death by MTV and radio.

Posted by: Cow Demon at August 16, 2025 08:41 PM (vm8sq)

144 I came across this on The YouTube today.

River Man
Nick Drake
https://youtu.be/TdPsRCcAnLQ

This is annotated video with a sync'd score. The author of the video is an actual music professor who has an astounding at hand, memorized for instant recall understanding of classical music. He is a gem. I was surprised and not surprised when this song popped up my watch this list.

Nick Drake only produced a few albums but they are all masterpieces. Sadly, this is because he committed suicide.

Posted by: Alteria Pilgram - My President has convictions. at August 16, 2025 08:41 PM (9vYpt)

145 My Tower Records story: One lonely, dateless Thursday night in about 1984, I drove up to Tower Records on Sunset to kill time and maybe splurge on a new cassette. Browsing thru the music, I reached up to grab something off of a high shelf. A man was squatting down on the floor, flicking intently thru whatever was on the lower shelf. I excused myself as I reached over him; he looked up and said something like, "No problem." It was Elton John. !!!! He was in a slump then (I thought he was done) and although I loved his music (he was my first concert), I thought telling him might make him sad so I didn't say anything. The store was quiet and no one paid him any attention. Crazy LA in the 80s.

Posted by: LASue at August 16, 2025 08:42 PM (lCppi)

146 As much as I dislike Roger Waters, he is one of my favorite songwriters. But, David Gilmour is also a favorite. His post-Waters Pink Floyd work is impressive.

Posted by: Mikey Alpha Kilo, No Longer Friday Night, you Guys at August 16, 2025 08:43 PM (0aYVJ)

147 Go to Crutchfield dot com. Stereo specialists including cars for over 40 years or so.

Great place. Bought that older car stereo there, and my current home audio system (for which they were very helpful with wiring it up to rip LPs). But that was where I was looking. The features I want aren’t (or weren’t then) available in one unit.

Posted by: Stephen Price Blair at August 16, 2025 08:46 PM (olroh)

148 I gave up on Roger decades ago, he can go screw himself

Posted by: Skip at August 16, 2025 08:46 PM (+qU29)

149 As much as I dislike Roger Waters, he is one of my favorite songwriters. But, David Gilmour is also a favorite. His post-Waters Pink Floyd work is impressive.
Posted by: Mikey Alpha Kilo

Those two fill the same place that Lennon/McCartney and Dylan a some years earlier but for the 70s. Their work is for the ages.

Posted by: Alteria Pilgram - My President has convictions. at August 16, 2025 08:46 PM (9vYpt)

150 146 As much as I dislike Roger Waters, he is one of my favorite songwriters. But, David Gilmour is also a favorite. His post-Waters Pink Floyd work is impressive.
Posted by: Mikey Alpha Kilo, No Longer Friday Night, you Guys at August 16, 2025 08:43 PM (0aYVJ)

That team up is first rate. Roger Waters solo material leaves MUCH to be desired. David Gilmour’s solo work…top notch. I love his 1978 self-titled of all, but they are all good.

I wasn’t happy about how my AF life ended. So as the final day concluded, I played “Near The End”, the last track on About Face.

Posted by: Cow Demon at August 16, 2025 08:47 PM (vm8sq)

151 The Final Cut is a Roger Waters solo Album. Change my mind.

Posted by: Cow Demon at August 16, 2025 08:48 PM (vm8sq)

152 >>I excused myself as I reached over him; he looked up and said something like, "No problem." It was Elton John. !!!!

Bernie Taupin is another excellent songwriter. Whatever you think of Elton John that guy could write songs.

Posted by: JackStraw at August 16, 2025 08:49 PM (viF8m)

153 I stumbled across this guy the other day and thought it was pretty cool. Charles Berthoud plays a mean bass.

James Bond theme.

https://is.gd/Vv0dEM

Uptown Funk.

https://is.gd/pZrCkl

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Something Smells Funny In Here at August 16, 2025 08:51 PM (L/fGl)

154 Peaches in New Orleans is an amazing record store - we spent an evening there during a trip, chatting with the owner and workers over tea, and it was the best adventure of the trip.

Posted by: moki at August 16, 2025 08:51 PM (wLjpr)

155 I better call it a night
Have a great evening everyone and Rock On

Posted by: Skip at August 16, 2025 08:52 PM (+qU29)

156 Great place. Bought that older car stereo there, and my current home audio system (for which they were very helpful with wiring it up to rip LPs). But that was where I was looking. The features I want aren’t (or weren’t then) available in one unit.
Posted by: Stephen Price Blair
========
Understand your pain--you might still find a trunk mounted cd jukebox player around that might work if you are up to doing some wiring.

And some portable cd players work with USB ports on stereos as inputs.

Sometimes, if you know the specific model of stereo (or car if you want OEM), you can get refurbed units from Ebay and a few boutique sellers.

I only buy cheap from them as sometimes old electronics, computer boards, etc. are bad although many have claims to be 'tested'. It is really a situation where you have to have dependable individual sellers on ebay that you know stand behind their product. Usually they have the biggest review totals.

Posted by: whig at August 16, 2025 08:52 PM (ctrM5)

157
Bernie Taupin is another excellent songwriter. Whatever you think of Elton John that guy could write songs.
Posted by: JackStraw at August 16, 2025 08:49 PM (viF8m)

Elton John refused to give into the Anti Israel faction and refused their demand he not play there. Now it may have been because he was broke but he still told them to go fuck themselves.

Posted by: polynikes at August 16, 2025 08:52 PM (EYmYM)

158 Bernie Taupin is another excellent songwriter.

One of my favorite Alice Cooper albums is a Bernie Taupin collaboration: From the Inside. During Taupin’s “time off” with Elton John.

Great album art, too. A lunatic asylum with a window that opens to reveal Alice Cooper in a straitjacket.

Posted by: Stephen Price Blair at August 16, 2025 08:53 PM (olroh)

159 If this is the general media thread, David Baszucki just got banned from Roblox.
The CEO of Roblox is David Baszucki.

Posted by: gKWVE at August 16, 2025 08:54 PM (gKWVE)

160 Pink Floyd's Momentary Lapse of Reason is a huge nostalgia-trigger. I played the hell out of it on my walkman when I was in AIT at Fort Sam Houston, which is where I met my wife. I friggin' love that album.

Posted by: Mikey Alpha Kilo, No Longer Friday Night, you Guys at August 16, 2025 08:55 PM (0aYVJ)

161 149 As much as I dislike Roger Waters, he is one of my favorite songwriters. But, David Gilmour is also a favorite. His post-Waters Pink Floyd work is impressive.
Posted by: Mikey Alpha Kilo

Those two fill the same place that Lennon/McCartney and Dylan a some years earlier but for the 70s. Their work is for the ages.
Posted by: Alteria Pilgram

Eh, I like Pink Floyd and even have their original album with Syd Barrett. But their work is for the ages is going a bit far for me.

Have to be in a certain mood nowadays to listen to them and some of their albums--like The Wall or Final Cut have aged badly to me despite having stellar sound, performances, and song writing. Different place in life now for me--different soundtracks appeal.

Pretty much that way for most groups--a few albums or even songs stand out and the rest of it is hit or miss.

Posted by: whig at August 16, 2025 08:56 PM (ctrM5)

162 I don't see him mentioned here very often, if ever, but James Taylor has quite the songbook. I also love his covers of rhythm and blues. Seems like he would include one on every album. "How Sweet it Is" for example.

I don't remember not going to record stores. I remember when albums were under $3.00. One of my favorite haunts was the Tower Records at the corner of Columbus Ave. in San Francisco. I would stop in at least once a month on my walk home from work. I loved sampling all sorts of music and walking out with stuff I never would have known about.

When I was a kid, our parents bought us music all the time- the first Beatles albums! The first 45 I remember them buying us was "Under the Boardwalk". The first one I bought with my own money was "I Think I Love You" by The Partridge Family. My sister broke it, and my mother made her buy me a new one because I cried so hard!

Posted by: Moonbeam at August 16, 2025 08:57 PM (rbKZ6)

163 151 The Final Cut is a Roger Waters solo Album. Change my mind.
Posted by: Cow Demon

It's a solo album. No reason to change your mind. He, because he's a dick, didn't put Richard Wright's name on the album so he wouldn't get any credit.

Posted by: Puddleglum at work at August 16, 2025 08:57 PM (S8cdb)

164 I excused myself as I reached over him; he looked up and said something like, "No problem." It was Elton John. !!!!
____
He didn't tell you to get back, honky cat?

Posted by: Biff Pocoroba at August 16, 2025 08:57 PM (XvL8K)

165 "If you are all good little boys and girls maybe you can head out to Club ONT later on."

I am in the Club, waiting to open the doors. Restroom tokens are on special tonight - buy 2, get one free with codeword "wax-ring".

Back-in parkers get a free shot of Valu Rite Single Barrel corn whiskey tonight.

Posted by: Doof at August 16, 2025 08:57 PM (QMAsf)

166 154 Peaches in New Orleans is an amazing record store - we spent an evening there during a trip, chatting with the owner and workers over tea, and it was the best adventure of the trip.
Posted by: moki
=======
Fair number of used record stores still about and some still can order new vinyl or cds if you check with them.

Posted by: whig at August 16, 2025 08:57 PM (ctrM5)

167 His best, Sweet Thing, from Van Morrison's Astral Weeks...

Posted by: davidt at August 16, 2025 08:59 PM (i0F8b)

168 It's a solo album. No reason to change your mind. He, because he's a dick, didn't put Richard Wright's name on the album so he wouldn't get any credit.
Posted by: Puddleglum
=======
A lot of times nowadays bands end up with a couple of missing players with one or two of the group holding rights to the name.

And yes, at times, it is merely branding rights for a solo album purporting to be a group one.

Posted by: whig at August 16, 2025 09:00 PM (ctrM5)

169 >>Elton John refused to give into the Anti Israel faction and refused their demand he not play there. Now it may have been because he was broke but he still told them to go fuck themselves.

I'm sure you know the song Daniel that Elton made a hit. I had no idea when I first heard it that it was about a Vietnam veteran, wasn't until years later I found out what the song was about.

Still think it is one of the prettiest ballads.

Posted by: JackStraw at August 16, 2025 09:00 PM (viF8m)

170 forgot the link...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JFAp3aRJ2vA

Posted by: davidt at August 16, 2025 09:01 PM (i0F8b)

171 Bernie Taupin is another excellent songwriter. Whatever you think of Elton John that guy could write songs.
Posted by: JackStraw
----

Something of an artist, also. Not to my taste, but a search for 'Taupin art' will produce results. Or,
https://www.bernietaupinart.com/

Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at August 16, 2025 09:02 PM (XeU6L)

172 167 His best, Sweet Thing, from Van Morrison's Astral Weeks...
Posted by: davidt
========
One of his best I agree. But the whole Astral Weeks album doesn't have a bad song on it. Classic.

I tend to be an album person more than a fan of any particular group with complete regular discographies. I have a few exceptions to the rule such as the Beatles studio albums. Haven't cared enough to buy the dribbles like the BBC sessions, etc.

Posted by: whig at August 16, 2025 09:02 PM (ctrM5)

173 Elton John played for Rush Limbaugh’s wedding to his (Rush’s) last wife, now widow.

Posted by: NemoMeImpuneLacessit at August 16, 2025 09:02 PM (ZVgZ4)

174 Odd. Comments seem to be acting touchy. Main page is loading fine. Comments, not so much.

Could just be me.

Posted by: Aetius451AD at August 16, 2025 09:03 PM (bss/y)

175 Before we moved and had to pack everything up, I had been visiting old record stores looking for good used vinyl. I hit the jackpot when I found Kiss Alive (the 1975 one) in nearly mint condition, original blue Casablanca label, the photo album, and the records were nearly pristine. Got it for like 15 bucks, which was a shock.

My Kiss fandom ended about the time I turned 13, but I like that album, and I scored a great find.

Posted by: Mikey Alpha Kilo, No Longer Friday Night, you Guys at August 16, 2025 09:04 PM (0aYVJ)

176 My favorite was Vinyl Ink in Silver Spring, MD. One of the guys from one of my most listened to bands back then worked there as well.

Posted by: logprof at August 16, 2025 09:04 PM (jo6FO)

177 Elton John refused to give into the Anti Israel faction and refused their demand he not play there.
--

Bernie Taupin has Jewish ties:
https://shorturl.at/4JRS7

Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at August 16, 2025 09:05 PM (XeU6L)

178 Still think it is one of the prettiest ballads.
Posted by: JackStraw

Wilson Phillips did a knockout cover of that one on Two Rooms which was an all star artist list covering Elton and Taupin's songs.

If you can dig it up, John Lennon's last live performance was on stage with Elton John. Lennon lost a bet with Elton over the cover of Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds. I Saw Her Standing There and Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds are on the ep.

Posted by: whig at August 16, 2025 09:05 PM (ctrM5)

179 refused their demand he not play there.

-
Didja see this? I guess Tom has to stay home and was his hair.

Tom Cruise Turns Down Trump’s Kennedy Center Honors Invite Over “Scheduling Conflicts”

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Something Smells Funny In Here at August 16, 2025 09:06 PM (L/fGl)

180 My Van Morrison fan boy-ism started in the UK, when i was stationed there. The Best of Van Morrison had just come out and was in EVERY SINGLE BRITISH PUB jukebox, so I heard it a lot. I eventually bought it and the second best of album which came out a year or two later. I have since bought a double digit amount of his CDs over the decades.

Posted by: Puddleglum at work at August 16, 2025 09:06 PM (S8cdb)

181 When Marillion swapped vocalists from Fish to Steve Hoggarth, the opinion was that they fired a poet and hired a singer.

I think "Brave," which is Hoggarth's, has some amazingly powerful lyrics. It's a concept album about a suicidal girl. Starts with her on the bridge, ready to jump, then switches back and forth between the present, and telling her life story in flashbacks. The first-person lines bring tears to my eyes.

I don't know what you're doing here
when there's murder on the streets.
I appreciate your concern,
but don't waste your time on me!
I'm ashes on the water now,
somewhere far away.
You think you came here "just in time"
but you're twenty years too late!

.....you won't have long to wait.

The original LP had a double-grooved final side. One groove was the "happy ending" with the final song, the other was the "sad ending" with an alternate penultimate song where she jumped, and the final song replaced by the sound of waves against bridge pilings.

Posted by: mikeski at August 16, 2025 09:08 PM (DgGvY)

182 180 My Van Morrison fan boy-ism started in the UK, when i was stationed there. The Best of Van Morrison had just come out and was in EVERY SINGLE BRITISH PUB jukebox, so I heard it a lot. I eventually bought it and the second best of album which came out a year or two later. I have since bought a double digit amount of his CDs over the decades.
Posted by: Puddleglum
=======
You might like Richard Thompson and Fairport Convention then. Nick Drake was part of that crowd along with Sandy Denny (guest vocals on a Led Zep song or two).

Hand of Kindness is a Richard Thompson album after he got divorced from Linda (his muse and cowriter/singer for a time). Not a bad song on it and Tear Stained Letter shows what Richard can do with a guitar.

Posted by: whig at August 16, 2025 09:10 PM (ctrM5)

183 I love Moondance and saw him on that tour. It was a good show but he didn't play to the audience at all.

Posted by: Notsothoreau at August 16, 2025 09:10 PM (kUxzU)

184 Gotta go. Have fun.

Posted by: whig at August 16, 2025 09:10 PM (ctrM5)

185 OT, semi truck trailer fire in Sylmar. 7 teslas!

Posted by: Commissar of plenty and festive little hats at August 16, 2025 09:11 PM (8kbS4)

186 I like girls. A lot. I think this needs to be said before I post my favorite Elton song.

https://tinyurl.com/mrwr6nxy

Posted by: JackStraw at August 16, 2025 09:11 PM (viF8m)

187 88 Burt Bacharach and Carole King
Posted by: polynikes
-------

youtube.com/watch?v=dq8sWx1rh0s

Posted by: Braenyard - some Absent Friends are more equal than others _ at August 16, 2025 09:13 PM (R0Sr5)

188 Zappa songs that were fun/funny: Broken Hearts are for Assholes and Bobby Brown.

Posted by: scampydog at August 16, 2025 09:14 PM (LVaYG)

189 The Carpenters, whoever wrote their songs, Karen probably, were amazing songwriters. They got a lot of feeling in there. Check out "Superstar" sometime.

One who doesn't get much mention is Burton Cummings. I mean, he wrote all that great Guess Who stuff, and Taking Care of Business. I remember an interview he did with Mark Steyn, in which he said he writes a song every day. He also told a great story about how he wrote "Ain't Seen Nothing Yet" to tease his brother, who stutters. He was astonished when the record company told him to include it in the album, and leave the stutters in.

Bob Dylan wrote one of the great dis tracks of all time, and most people who love it don't even think of it that way. Read the Like A Rolling Stone backstory sometime.

Posted by: Splunge at August 16, 2025 09:18 PM (d03xA)

190 “Subway's no way for a good man to go down
Rich man can ride and the hobo he can drown
And I thank the Lord for the people I have found
I thank the Lord for the Morons I have found…”

Posted by: Stephen Price Blair at August 16, 2025 09:18 PM (olroh)

191 Marillion. Ah, yes. One of my Alaska days nostalgia music. I had an EP on cassette, which featured a song called Lady Nina, which was powerful sad.

Fish was not a great singer, but he emoted very well. Childhood's End is epic. One of those that one needs to listen in it's entirety. Like Tears for Fears, Songs from the Big Chair.

Posted by: Mikey Alpha Kilo, No Longer Friday Night, you Guys at August 16, 2025 09:19 PM (0aYVJ)

192 Doc Watson was a good songwriter, has he been mentioned yet.

Posted by: From about That Time at August 16, 2025 09:19 PM (n4GiU)

193 How about a great songwriter, writing a song about how tough it is to be a a great songwriter?

Blank page
Numbly staring up at me
Daring me to try to be
Simple, yet profound

Words alone
For all that consciousness allows
Find I'm at a loss for how
To say just what I've found

I entered through an open door
Left by all who came before
With thoughts so rich, yet words so poor
For truths already spoken for

https://youtu.be/qcuYw7ghpLU

RIP Kevin Gilbert. It's a shame you were best known as Sheryl Crow's songwriter.

Posted by: mikeski at August 16, 2025 09:19 PM (DgGvY)

194 A big shout out to my great friend Phil with Phil's Records in Northern Kentucky. Phil has been an independent record shop owner since 1989, and is still going today. He has weathered many storms over the years that impacted how we purchased and listened to our music, but as Elton sings, Phil is "Still Standing After All These Years"!

Posted by: SuperExMayorSuperRonNirenberg-Not One Of The Castro Boys, But Definitely Buffer Then Them at August 16, 2025 09:20 PM (w8wAi)

195 The most annoying "I'm a stuck songwriter, so I'll write a song about being a stuck songwriter" is unquestionably 25 or 6 to 4.

Posted by: Splunge at August 16, 2025 09:20 PM (d03xA)

196 I'd like to offer highly respectful hat tips to both Alan Jackson and George Strait.

Posted by: Kathy at August 16, 2025 09:21 PM (qpw89)

197 I'd suggest Gordon Lightfoot.
The guy told stories, didn't just go verse, chorus, verse, chorus.

Posted by: Mark Andrew Edwards, Buy ammo at August 16, 2025 09:21 PM (xcxpd)

198 Bob Seger is a great song writer.

Posted by: davidt at August 16, 2025 09:21 PM (i0F8b)

199 Lesser but favorites:
Phil Collins and Robbie Williams. Both write about their own life experiences, I appreciate that more than whatever Ryan Tedder shit out onto a page this month.

Posted by: Mark Andrew Edwards, Buy ammo at August 16, 2025 09:23 PM (xcxpd)

200 198 Bob Seger is a great song writer.
Posted by: davidt at August 16, 2025 09:21 PM (i0F8b)

Endorsed

Posted by: Mark Andrew Edwards, Buy ammo at August 16, 2025 09:23 PM (xcxpd)

201 still have a CD player in the ole Honda. They probably aren't even offered in new cars now.

-

There is a Subaru that still had it for 2025 models but that is the last year. And I believe that is the last CD player in cars.

For the most part cars stopped coming with CD players in the mid to late 2010s.

Posted by: Its Go Time Donald at August 16, 2025 09:23 PM (9c0bR)

202 The most annoying "I'm a stuck songwriter, so I'll write a song about being a stuck songwriter" is unquestionably 25 or 6 to 4.
Posted by: Splunge
_____

New Song by The Who.

Posted by: Biff Pocoroba at August 16, 2025 09:23 PM (XvL8K)

203 Bob Seger is a great song writer.
Posted by: davidt at August 16, 2025 09:21 PM (i0F8b)

Agree. While I loathe Old Time Rock n Roll, he has a lot of songs I really like.

Posted by: Mikey Alpha Kilo, winding down from a long day at August 16, 2025 09:25 PM (0aYVJ)

204 The Carpenters, whoever wrote their songs, Karen probably, were amazing songwriters. They got a lot of feeling in there. Check out "Superstar" sometime.
==
Richard was the musical brains. Karen had the incredible voice. Nichols and Williams wrote many of their biggest hits. Richard arranged much of the final products. Terrible when she died.

Posted by: Black JEM at August 16, 2025 09:25 PM (VY+bQ)

205 Pretty song.

https://tinyurl.com/yxrr4h9y

Posted by: JackStraw at August 16, 2025 09:25 PM (viF8m)

206 Bob Seger is a great song writer.
Posted by: davidt at August 16, 2025 09:21 PM (i0F8b)

Agree. While I loathe Old Time Rock n Roll, he has a lot of songs I really like.
Posted by: Mikey Alpha Kilo, winding down from a long day at August 16, 2025 09:25 PM (0aYVJ)
==
Yet he isn't very good at ending them, lots of repeats over and over. Night Moves is an incredible song - and if he could have come up with a better ending it might have been all worldly.

Posted by: Black JEM at August 16, 2025 09:27 PM (VY+bQ)

207 "The water rushed in and they all drowned like rats.
As their lungs they filled with water . . . "

---Discarded Gordon Lightfoot First Draft Lyrics

Andrew Heaton talked at length once about the "celtic tradition" of standup. He claims in Scotland it is not so much about a series of jokes, as it tends to be jokes interspersed with rambling stories, possibly leading somewhere, but maybe not.

Lightfoot seems to have taken that idea to folk-like songs

Posted by: Kindltot at August 16, 2025 09:27 PM (rbvCR)

208 Best music thread ever thanks mh

Posted by: San Franpsycho at August 16, 2025 09:27 PM (RIvkX)

209 Buckingham/Nicks got most of the attention, but Christine McVie could write...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UXWia0TWAMM

Posted by: davidt at August 16, 2025 09:27 PM (i0F8b)

210 Dunno about Phil Collins.

"I'm absolutely stuck for a lyric. What's the chord sequence, anyway?"
"A-B-A-C-A-B"
"Wait, I just thought of a lyric."

"C'mon, Phil, the studio is going to kick us out. Think of some lyric!"
"They can't kick us out. I'll sue the studio! Wait..sue..sue..studio. OK, I'm ready."

Posted by: Splunge at August 16, 2025 09:28 PM (d03xA)

211 My shotgun opinions on songwriters-
Mark Knopfler*s lyrics capture the mood of melancholy like no other, and his music is divine. Todd Rundgren and ELO*s Jeff Lynne both write an amazing volume of fantastic songs. As MisHum noted, the late great Warren Zevon, and when I establish my own country or fiefdom, Lawyers Guns and Money will be my National Anthem. Nick Lowe and Elvis Costello are both fantastic, often playful, wordsmiths with their lyrics. I*ll close with one of my favorite lyrics from Elvis-
**New Amsterdam you've become much too much
Til I have the possession of everything she touches
Til I step on the brakes, to get out of her clutches
Til I speak double dutch, to a real Double Dutchess**

Posted by: SuperExMayorSuperRonNirenberg-Not One Of The Castro Boys, But Definitely Buffer Then Them at August 16, 2025 09:29 PM (w8wAi)

212 Dunno about Phil Collins.

"I'm absolutely stuck for a lyric. What's the chord sequence, anyway?"
"A-B-A-C-A-B"
"Wait, I just thought of a lyric."

"C'mon, Phil, the studio is going to kick us out. Think of some lyric!"
"They can't kick us out. I'll sue the studio! Wait..sue..sue..studio. OK, I'm ready."
Posted by: Splunge

Gabriel was the brains of that outfit, wot?

Posted by: mikeski at August 16, 2025 09:29 PM (DgGvY)

213 Whoever Led Zeppelin took their songs from were good song writers.

Posted by: polynikes at August 16, 2025 09:29 PM (EYmYM)

214 Elton John played for Rush Limbaugh’s wedding to his (Rush’s) last wife, now widow.
Posted by: NemoMeImpuneLacessit
**********
Fact. Cost of said engagement? A cool $1M.

Posted by: The Grateful at August 16, 2025 09:29 PM (IQ6Gq)

215 Best music thread ever thanks mh
Posted by: San Franpsycho at August 16, 2025 09:27 PM (RIvkX)

Mega dittos. I bloviate far more on music threads than I do on movie threads.

Posted by: Mikey Alpha Kilo, winding down from a long day at August 16, 2025 09:30 PM (0aYVJ)

216 Tom Waits

https://tinyurl.com/3ma572xu

Posted by: JackStraw at August 16, 2025 09:30 PM (viF8m)

217 Record stores in my life: Blue Moon Records in Port Huron, Mi (now gone) and Vertigo Records in Grand Rapids, MI-just visited today and scooped up 3 CDs-Art Blakey, Ornette Coleman and Skynyrd. What can I say? Eclectic tastes!

Posted by: Red from GR at August 16, 2025 09:35 PM (vWOri)

218 Much respect to Marty Robbins and Robert Earl Keen, but Steve Earle is my all time favorite country writer. Admittedly his later work has a more rock/blues edge. But from a lyrical standpoint, his song Tennessee Kid is pure, unadulterated badassery.....

Posted by: Matthew Kant Cipher at August 16, 2025 09:35 PM (KkdUn)

219 Doc Watson and David Grisman.

Summertime

https://tinyurl.com/bdefdv44

Posted by: JackStraw at August 16, 2025 09:36 PM (viF8m)

220 They say time heals all wounds
But time's standing still

They say you've got to move on
But I'm spinning my wheels

Posted by: polynikes at August 16, 2025 09:37 PM (EYmYM)

221 Three months to the 50th anniversary of the wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald.

Posted by: Did You Close The Hatch? at August 16, 2025 09:37 PM (G5+As)

222 One of the things that boggles my mind about pop songs these days is how many of them are written by committees, including most Taylor Swift hits.

With all that, those songs are overwhelmingly forgettable pap.

Posted by: logprof at August 16, 2025 09:37 PM (jo6FO)

223 Chelsea Records in Ithaca. Record City in San Diego. Lou’s Records in Encinitas. Two out of three are still around.

Posted by: Stephen Price Blair at August 16, 2025 09:37 PM (olroh)

224 Duke Ellington and Ella Fitzgerald, written by a 16 year old.

youtube.com/watch?v=wRsLBCR_MXE

Posted by: Braenyard - some Absent Friends are more equal than others _ at August 16, 2025 09:38 PM (R0Sr5)

225 Most poetic "losing your virginity" songwriting? I vote October Project's "Adam and Eve."

Only ever really one story
A boy and a girl, and a dream of the world
An apple, a kiss, a moment of sky
A moment you choose, without knowing why

https://youtu.be/LFrREPVDZGA

Posted by: mikeski at August 16, 2025 09:38 PM (DgGvY)

226 Steve Earle is my all time favorite country writer. Admittedly his later work has a more rock/blues edge. But from a lyrical standpoint, his song Tennessee Kid is pure, unadulterated badassery.....
Posted by: Matthew Kant Cipher
*********
Copperhead Road has entered the discussion....

Posted by: The Grateful at August 16, 2025 09:39 PM (IQ6Gq)

227 88 Burt Bacharach and Carole King
Posted by: polynikes at August 16, 2025 08:15 PM (EYmYM)

Two real good ones...

Posted by: joemarine at August 16, 2025 09:39 PM (y171U)

228 Best song-writing team ever? Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (music) and Lorenzo da Ponte (words). No one written anything lovelier, or more moving, than "Don Giovanni", "The Marriage of Figaro", and "Cosi fan Tutte". End of discussion.

Posted by: Nemo at August 16, 2025 09:39 PM (4RPgu)

229 And apparently the Orange County Record Show is back.

Posted by: Stephen Price Blair at August 16, 2025 09:39 PM (olroh)

230 Correction:

Full Moon Records in Port Huron, Mi. Sigh, it’s been a long time.

Posted by: Red from GR at August 16, 2025 09:39 PM (vWOri)

231 One of the things that boggles my mind about pop songs these days is how many of them are written by committees, including most Taylor Swift hits.

With all that, those songs are overwhelmingly forgettable pap.
Posted by: logprof

Some of that is truly song-by-committee, but a lot of it is "put everyone's name on it so they can all get a cut of the royalties."

Posted by: mikeski at August 16, 2025 09:40 PM (DgGvY)

232 One of the things that boggles my mind about pop songs these days is how many of them are written by committees, including most Taylor Swift hits.

—

And many of those songs were written in Sweden. Well, back when Sweden was still kinda Swedish.

Posted by: Its Go Time Donald at August 16, 2025 09:41 PM (9c0bR)

233 I know it's twee and drippy but I love Marillion's "Kayleigh". It really tugs at the heartstrings.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at August 16, 2025 09:42 PM (kpS4V)

234 My 300+ Music CDs? all ripped onto the computer.

I have about 6 days worth of music, on my phone.

Posted by: Romeo13 at August 16, 2025 09:43 PM (mP0Kj)

235 231 One of the things that boggles my mind about pop songs these days is how many of them are written by committees, including most Taylor Swift hits.

With all that, those songs are overwhelmingly forgettable pap.
Posted by: logprof

Some of that is truly song-by-committee, but a lot of it is "put everyone's name on it so they can all get a cut of the royalties."
Posted by: mikeski at August 16, 2025 09:40 PM (DgGvY)

That, and autotune... I can forgive things like the Monkees... where their music was written by committee.... I can't forgive 'artists' who would sound like crap if they used their natural voice.

Posted by: Romeo13 at August 16, 2025 09:44 PM (mP0Kj)

236 233 I know it's twee and drippy but I love Marillion's "Kayleigh". It really tugs at the heartstrings.
Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at August 16, 2025 09:42 PM (kpS4V)

Sorry.... but ultimate tear jerk song?

Whisky lullaby.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IZbN_nmxAGk

Posted by: Romeo13 at August 16, 2025 09:46 PM (mP0Kj)

237 Elton John refused to give into the Anti Israel faction and refused their demand he not play there. Now it may have been because he was broke but he still told them to go fuck themselves.
Posted by: polynikes
-------------

The Stones and Sting? also.

Posted by: Braenyard - some Absent Friends are more equal than others _ at August 16, 2025 09:47 PM (R0Sr5)

238 Remember the Music Mail Order Club? For a penny you could pick 6 cassettes and have to purchase one per month. I was an idiot, got all 6 KISS cassettes because I thought that was rock n roll. They sucked. Except for Beth LOL

Posted by: Fenrisulven at August 16, 2025 09:47 PM (ciYHQ)

239 Anybody here old enough to remember the halcyon days of Frank Zappa Month on the ONT?

Posted by: Duncanthrax at August 16, 2025 09:49 PM (0sNs1)

240 I know it's twee and drippy but I love Marillion's "Kayleigh". It really tugs at the heartstrings.
Posted by: All Hail Eris

Fish got a lot of lyrics out of his schoolyard romance, across his four albums with Marillion.

Posted by: mikeski at August 16, 2025 09:51 PM (DgGvY)

241 Zappa's misbegotten son Lowell George.

https://tinyurl.com/haabfd93

Good night all.

Posted by: JackStraw at August 16, 2025 09:52 PM (viF8m)

242 🎶 🎹 amateur hour again

Hungry for my Baby Blues
How about a cuppa, sugar, for a starving artist?
With comic illustrations!

Link in nic. Should play from 9:36 to 12:25 in the vid.
A cut from Mindful Webworkshop #1, 2016 Aug 12

Admittedly, this one could have been performed better. No harm no foul if you just scoot past to the real music
🌅

Posted by: mindful webworker - just like ol' Mother Hubbard at August 16, 2025 09:52 PM (L05+f)

243 So.what are vinyl records worth? Have all the import Beatles.on Parlaphone bought in the 80s, played once to tape and then stored cause if you remember at that time the US albums were all jiggered up and I wanted them as intended. Up through Magical Mystery Tour

Posted by: azjaeger at August 16, 2025 09:52 PM (3/XaG)

244 Opinions, as in noses, everybody (except for a leper) has one.

Voldemort

Posted by: mindful webworker - he was a rotten guy at August 16, 2025 09:53 PM (L05+f)

245 I used to live where Columbia House was. Knew lots of people who worked for Columbia Records. When they had employee sales, we could get records, and later cassette tapes, for a buck each. Had a large collection. Those were the days. Now my son has my collection (as well as the turntable) and loves listening to vinyl. Passing it on.

Posted by: Crabby Appleton at August 16, 2025 09:54 PM (JcXec)

246 239 Anybody here old enough to remember the halcyon days of Frank Zappa Month on the ONT?
Posted by: Duncanthrax

Oh yes, two things to look forward to in December. Zappa Month and the end of pumpkin spice season.

Posted by: We Thought They'd Never End... at August 16, 2025 09:55 PM (G5+As)

247 238 Remember the Music Mail Order Club? For a penny you could pick 6 cassettes and have to purchase one per month. I was an idiot, got all 6 KISS cassettes because I thought that was rock n roll. They sucked. Except for Beth LOL
Posted by: Fenrisulven at August 16, 2025 09:47 PM (ciYHQ)

I have over 100 CDs from that club... most of which are actually pretty good.

Posted by: Romeo13 at August 16, 2025 09:55 PM (mP0Kj)

248 Tom Waits

https://tinyurl.com/3ma572xu
Posted by: JackStraw at August 16, 2025 09:30 PM (viF8m)

Bone Machine album just about broke my brain. How could something that dark and discordant be so lyrical?

Posted by: Kindltot at August 16, 2025 09:55 PM (rbvCR)

249 Some of that is truly song-by-committee, but a lot of it is "put everyone's name on it so they can all get a cut of the royalties."
Posted by: mikeski at August 16, 2025 09:40 PM (DgGvY)

--Like academia!

Posted by: logprof at August 16, 2025 09:56 PM (jo6FO)

250 My kids and their friends are into records. It’s a thing with the yuuutes. Everything comes back full circle. Like bell bottoms which are a thing again.

Posted by: Its Go Time Donald at August 16, 2025 09:56 PM (9c0bR)

251 Also Phil Collins: Susudio.

Ecch.

Posted by: San Franpsycho at August 16, 2025 09:57 PM (RIvkX)

252 I remember (doot doot)

I remember (doot doot)

Posted by: Guy who relates everything to a Zappa song at August 16, 2025 09:58 PM (vFG9F)

253 Zamfir wrote some of his songs. Of course, the Pan Flute is on the very highest rungs of music.

Posted by: Picnic At Hanging Rock at August 16, 2025 10:00 PM (G5+As)

254 ultimate tear jerk song?
Posted by: Romeo13

I brought up Marillion's "Brave" as a tearjerker upthread, but that's a whole concept album.

Porcupine Tree's "Heart Attack in a Layby" does it, too.

Guy has a fight with his girl, leaves in a huff, pulls into a rest stop (UK: layby), and realizes he should go back home and make up because the fight was silly. Then has a heart attack.

https://youtu.be/GKjhKwFm5dg

(She waits for me)
(Home waits for me)
I guess I should go now
she's waiting to make up
to tell me she's sorry
and how much she missed me

I guess I'm just burnt out
I really should slow down
I'm perfectly fine, but
I just need to lie down

we'll grow old together
we'll grow old together.....

Posted by: mikeski at August 16, 2025 10:00 PM (DgGvY)

255 Tearjerker song for me is Dress Blues, Zac Brown Band.

Also, 8th of November, Big and Rich.

Posted by: Mikey Alpha Kilo, winding down from a long day at August 16, 2025 10:01 PM (0aYVJ)

256 Everything comes back full circle. Like bell bottoms which are a thing again.
Posted by: Its Go Time Donald at August 16, 2025 09:56 PM (9c0bR)

--I saw a dude in Wawa last week with the giant ones all the way to the floor like a lamp stand or something. It was the rave look from early '90s. He was black as well, so maybe ghey.

Posted by: logprof at August 16, 2025 10:01 PM (jo6FO)

257 Turn that noise down! Get upstairs!

ONT is NOOD!

Posted by: mikeski at August 16, 2025 10:01 PM (DgGvY)

258 Wonderful picture. Wow, blast from the past!

Posted by: sidney at August 16, 2025 10:01 PM (rzwGB)

259 Someone mentioned Richard Thompson upstream. My favorite of his, singing with his son, Teddy.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sBhi_n964Rc

Posted by: huerfano at August 16, 2025 10:02 PM (98kQX)

260 Zamfir wrote some of his songs. Of course, the Pan Flute is on the very highest rungs of music.
Posted by: Picnic At Hanging Rock at August 16, 2025 10:00 PM (G5+As)

--I wonder if he wrote his part for the Tour of Duty theme.

Posted by: logprof at August 16, 2025 10:02 PM (jo6FO)

261 Everything comes back full circle. Like bell bottoms which are a thing again.
Posted by: Its Go Time Donald at August 16, 2025 09:56 PM (9c0bR)

I know there's a nood, but I have to say the funniest thing about bell bottoms is that when, as a kid, I wore them in the winter, in the snow, they would get all stiff and round, like actual bells. Pretty funny.

Posted by: Mikey Alpha Kilo, winding down from a long day at August 16, 2025 10:04 PM (0aYVJ)

262 I wonder if you are including successful commercial jingles in "greatest song writer"....because you might be surprised by certain musicians and how many recognizable stanzas they have out there.

For example: Barry Manilow. "Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there." "You deserve a break today. (MacDonalds)". "I am stuck on Band-Aid Brand cause..."

Everyone of those three still gets play daily as do a number of his other jingles for KFC, Pepsi, Stridex etc.

Posted by: Orson at August 16, 2025 10:08 PM (dIske)

263 243 So.what are vinyl records worth? Have all the import Beatles.on Parlaphone bought in the 80s, played once to tape and then stored cause if you remember at that time the US albums were all jiggered up and I wanted them as intended. Up through Magical Mystery Tour
Posted by: azjaeger at August 16, 2025 09:52 PM (3/XaG)

Beatles reissues manufactured in the 80's in near mint condition are worth anywhere from $50-$75 each.

Posted by: joemarine at August 16, 2025 10:11 PM (y171U)

264 Porcupine Tree's "Heart Attack in a Layby" does it, too.

Guy has a fight with his girl, leaves in a huff, pulls into a rest stop (UK: layby), and realizes he should go back home and make up because the fight was silly. Then has a heart attack.

https://youtu.be/GKjhKwFm5dg

(She waits for me)
(Home waits for me)
I guess I should go now
she's waiting to make up
to tell me she's sorry
and how much she missed me

I guess I'm just burnt out
I really should slow down
I'm perfectly fine, but
I just need to lie down

we'll grow old together
we'll grow old together.....
Posted by: mikeski at August 16, 2025 10:00 PM (DgGvY)

Not “Stop Swimming”?

Posted by: Cow Demon at August 16, 2025 10:26 PM (gkpAx)

265 The morning that I found out my father died it was time to play “Disappear” by Dream Theater.

Top that for depressing.

Posted by: Cow Demon at August 16, 2025 10:29 PM (gkpAx)

266 Not “Stop Swimming”?
Posted by: Cow Demon

My "suicide song" was way upthread. Marillion's "Brave."

And I think HAiaL is more bittersweet, because the guy didn't want to die. He was ready to fix things and start over, and then he was gone.

Maybe, since the song ends with the sound of a UK ambulance siren.....

Posted by: mikeski at August 16, 2025 10:39 PM (DgGvY)

267 Best song by a guy watching his wife die?

Rory Feek

If this song doesn't make you cry, your heart must've been eaten by a worm.
https://youtu.be/xcpjSMmWUDw?si=c0nBluNGMkFm-2AB

Posted by: Camper Dave at August 16, 2025 10:54 PM (xpvnt)

268 You have some great taste. Dylan, Talking Heads, Zappa, and Zevon.

Greatest songwriter Dylan, but greatest songwriter duo is Lennon & McCartney.

Get a job is one of my all time favorite Talking Heads songs.

Posted by: Happy at August 16, 2025 11:59 PM (8wFql)

269 holy man never expected to see nina here. early park west show was really good, nunsexmonkrock tour.

Posted by: cmeat at August 19, 2025 01:17 AM (LgQ89)

270 zevon quit and died anyhow.
y'all really need to choctaw bingo.

Posted by: cmeat at August 19, 2025 01:23 AM (LgQ89)

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