Tuesday, February 19, 2008

My Rock 'N' Roll Favorites - the 'M's through the 'P's

Madonna: “Ray of Light” – Madonna, notwithstanding her ever-evolving-but-always-slutty image, has done some great work over the years. I pick “Ray of Light” here because it’s yet another nice running song for the treadmill.
Mamas and the Papas, The: “I Saw Her Again Last Night” – I almost picked “Creeque Alley,” the M&Ps’ musical autobiography, but I still regard “I Saw Her Again Last Night” as their best song.
Mason, Dave: “To Be Free” – Dave Mason has to be the King of the Intro, as most of his songs have tremendous lead-in hooks; unfortunately, the intro is usually the best part of the song.
Mellencamp, John: “ROCK In the USA” – Typically insipid Mellencamp lyrics, but he still made some of the best “guitar” records of the 80s and early 90s.
Missing Persons: “Destination Unknown” – Still one of my absolute favorite new wave songs, “Destination Unknown” reminds me of the fun times I had in the old Albuquerque 11th Ward, the LDS singles ward I attended for a couple of years in the early 1980s.
Monkees, The: “Pleasant Valley Sunday” – A great pop tune! The lyric about someone having a TV in every room to reinforce his affluent image is a tad out of date (who doesn’t have three or four TVs these days?), but otherwise the song’s message still seems timely.
Moody Blues, The: “You and Me” – This song is a vastly overlooked cut from Seventh Sojourn, one that most people, even some Moody Blues fans, aren’t aware of; however, it’s probably the best example of Justin Hayward’s amazing stereo-guitar sound.
Motley Crue: “Dr. Feelgood” – Possibly the greatest tune from the hair-band era, not that that’s saying much.
Mutemath: “Typical” – I’m going to indulge myself here: Mutemath probably isn’t most people’s idea of a “significant” rock band at this point in time, but I went with my son Darren to see them in concert at the Albuquerque’s Sunshine Theater in April 2007 and was very impressed. Not only is “Typical” a fantastic song, but it has a great message as well.
Night Ranger: “You Can Still Rock In America” – It’s sounding like an old refrain at this point, but this was the only song by this group that I liked.
Nirvana: “Smells Like Teen Spirit” – I actually like Weird Al Yankovic’s spoof “Smells Like Nirvana” better. I never understood the whole grunge-rock phenomenon, notwithstanding my being properly angst-ridden.
Oingo Boingo: “Weird Science” – There’s no mistaking the fact that this song came out in the 80s, but the arrangement, the instruments, and Danny Elfman’s vocals are so tight that the tune more than stands up today.
Osbourne, Ozzy: “Crazy Train” – Randy Rhoads’s stellar guitar work definitely stands out on this tune.
Paul Revere & The Raiders: “Hungry” – As stated in the liner notes to the Nuggets collection, Paul Revere & The Raiders was one of the great American bands of the 1960s, although their antics on Where the Action Is and other television shows probably caused them not to be taken seriously in any musical sense. I like a number of their songs, but “Hungry” sort of stands out.
Pink Floyd: “Another Brick In the Wall” – David Gilmour’s fantastic guitar solo sets this tune apart from the rest of Pink Floyd’s music for me.
Poison: This band represents the nadir of the hair-band era, and I can’t make myself listen to anything they did. “Every Rose Has Its Thorn” starts out as a nice ballad, but then C.C. DeVille’s guitar solo kills it dead.
Police, The: “De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da” – I can remember hearing this song a lot during the last few months of my time in Chile in 1980; I can remember thinking the vocals sounded like Chicago, so I was mildly surprised to find out later that it was the Police, a band I’d never heard of before. I regard most of their lyrics as silly these days, but at least this tune still takes me back.
Presley, Elvis: “A Little Less Conversation” - This song was a perfect fit for the movie Ocean's Eleven and its Vegas setting; I also liked the remix that somebody did to give it some zing.
Pretenders, The: “Night In My Veins” – I liked some of the Pretenders’ earlier music, but much of it sounds a little lame today due to the wussy guitar sound that prevailed in the 80s; in contrast, “Night In My Veins” is not only a great song, but it has a big sound as well.
Prince: “1999” – Prince’s prediction of end-of-millenium doom didn’t pan out, but it’s still by far his best song.

My Nephew Aaron's Eagle Scout
Court of Honor

Here I am with my nephew, Aaron P_____, after his Eagle Scout court of honor on February 17. (Aaron had his board of review back in November, but, as often happens, we didn't hold a court of honor for him until several months later.) As I alluded to in a previous post, Aaron became the eighth of eight scouts from our 2004 Philmont crew to get his Eagle, and no one deserved it more. Aaron will attend BYU-Idaho after he graduates from Eldorado High School in May.