"And Then There Were These" : THE WEEKEND MIX

There are many people out there who have never heard anything but "Roundabout" by Yes or "Another Brick In The Wall" by Pink Floyd, with some believing "Dark Side Of the Moon" was Pink Floyd's first album. Of course, not everyone is supposed to know as much as this blog community does about music and I am not here to criticize. I am simply fascinated by it all, especially by my favorite recurring theme of fans putting a halt to all listening by an established and often favorite artist, once they release an unfavorable album or two.

Time again, I'd have baffling converstions with customers, while manning the counter at my shop and three specific incidents always come to mind.

One customer shared this with me when the news of Meat Loaf's "Bat Out Of Hell II" was about to be released in 1993: "How can a guy just pick up where he left off 20 years later? What was he doing all that time?" When I broke the news that Meat Loaf never really went away but had released 5 records after "Bat Out Of Hell," the poor guy's jaw dropped, as if I was playing some nasty trick on him.

Another afternoon, I had been listening to "See Emily Play" when a customer asked, "Who is this playing?" I said, "Pink Floyd." He snapped back, "COME ON! Who the fuck is this," as if I was playing some nasty trick on him.

A very prominent political writer who was not only a regular, but also loved just how much he (thought he) knew about music, once traded in hundreds of classic CDs and stated "I only need a Greatest Hits CD by most of these artists. I mean, Cheap Trick doesn't have much worth listening to beyond Surrender & I Want You To Want Me anyhow." When I responded with variants on "You're getting rid of "Tommy" and "Ram?," he came back with "All anyone really needs is "Quadrophenia" and "Band On The Run." He also went on to say Queen sucked because "We Will Rock You sucks." Man, he annoyed me, damn Cheap Trick hater.

To each his own...I never say.

This mix is something I'm pretty sure I hadn't posted earlier, but if I did, you crafty readers will surely inform me.

Here are some faves by some faves that you may not have heard before.

From their debut, Yes gets psychedelic almost on "Beyond & Before."

Hall & Oates were already MTV darlings and mega-stars by 1982, but this Oates cut from "Private Eyes" is a pop gem. (That's right an Oates cut.)

From one of the "no Stones record after Exile is any good" Stones records, here is my fave cut off of "It's Only Rock & Roll," a reeally great post-Exile record.

More a Jeff Lynne solo track than an ELO track, check out "One Day." What a melody.

Richard Wright's "Summer '68" from PF's "Atom Heart Mother" is a standout from a mostly difficult LP.  So many beautiful twists and turns.

The Macca track is from "Chaos & Creation In The Backyard," a record that I admit, did nothing for me at first and now, is in my Top 5 solo Paul's of all time. I cannot stress enough how good this record is.

From Ray & Dave's last studio release, "Scattered," a Ray Davies tune that rivals his greatest.

Can Marvin Gaye's greatest vocal performance be on a record originally left on the cutting room floor? Maybe.

I am a fan of the band Bread, though not necessarily of some of David Gates wedding day hits like "If" and "Lost Without Your Love." This track here was written by the other guys in the band, James Griffin and Robb Royer and boy, it's a heartbreaker.

I wrote about Elton's underrated classic "Blue Moves" some time ago, and here is my fave from that collection, "Idol."

The Bowie track is from the soundtrack to the British TV series "Buddha Of Suburbia," another album that seemed like a toss off at the time of its release, but has grown on me tremendously over the years.

Almost 20 years after Boz Scaggs took over the airwaves with his now classic post-Disco release "Silk Degrees," his 1994 release "Some Change" was every bit as strong, if a tad more adult. "Lost It" speaking of heartbreakers.

"Heaven's Falling" was written by Todd Rundgren, or should I say rewritten as it more than resembles "Cry Baby," Todd's hit with Utopia. This can be found on Cheap Trick's Rundgren-produced album, "Next Position Please," which features a dozen songs I like more than "I Want You To Want Me."

Finally, the one song that probably caught your eye above all else and possibly the one I'd say is the most likely for you to blow off.  For all of you who know Harry Connick Jr. as the crooning Sinatra-wannabe on the soundtrack of "When Harry Met Sally" and not the New Orleans native and student of James Booker, here is the title track from his 1994 curveball, sorta funk record, "She." Many Meters are on this record, as well as some of NOLA's finest. Give it a shot. It's worth the drumming alone.

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