Where's Musical Monday #82?

Looking for Musical Monday #82?
Don't be confused... it's us, not you!
The alternating MM hosts just pulled a "v'nahafoch hu"
For logistical reasons, and for Rosh Chodesh Adar too!

So look for Musical Monday #82 at Soccer Dad, and then come on back here the next two Mondays for #83 and #84.

Good luck, and Happy Adar!

Home, Again

"It's so far and out of sight..."
- Carole King

Thanks to Yitzchak, Soccer Dad, Gail, Clayton, Jack, Laura, SJ, ral315, and benjie (and I missed TRN this time!), for your participation in last week's Musical Monday #80! Together, you ID'ed 22 out of 38 songs, and Gail was the first to get the theme, which was songs titles that mention "home". Nice job, all!

Before providing the rest of the answers, I'd like to wax nostalgic for a moment (well, nostalgic has been getting a bit scuffed! :-}) on the significance of this particular MM topic to me. This is actually a remake of a musical theme I visited nearly 28 years ago, back in my college days, when I hosted a weekly show on our radio station: "WYUR - The Voice of Yeshiva University" (now online!). This was, as far as I remember, the first themed installment of my radio show that I ever did, and thus the earliest ancestor of my Musical Monday quizzes of today! (And guess who else also had a show on WYUR back then?)

After posting MM #80, I spent some time going through my boxes of college papers in the attic, until finally I unearthed the original playlist for that old show! My musical tastes were still developing in those days, and conversely, my interpretation of the theme was quite a bit broader on that radio show than in this MM. Thus, I included songs that referred - even fleetingly- to the general ideas of "homecoming", "returning", or "traveling".

Anyway, for those who are interested, here (not in the order played, which is lost to posterity) are the songs that appeared on my playlist for that radio program back in 1981:

- Beatles - Golden Slumbers
- Beatles - The Two Of US
- Beatles - Ticket to Ride
- Billy Joel - Traveling Prayer
- Billy Joel - Everybody's Got A Dream
- S&G - Homeward Bound
- Jackson Browne - The Road
- Supertramp - Take The Long Way Home
- Foreigner - Long, Long Way From Home
- Eddie Money - Two Tickets To Paradise
- Carole King - So Far Away
- Carole King - Home Again
- Beach Boys - Sloop John B
- Blues Brothers - B Movie
- Eagles - Already Gone
- John Denver - Take Me Home Country Roads
- Dave Loggins - Please Come To Boston
- Tony Orlando - Tie a Yellow Ribbon
- Paul Simon - My Little Town
- Santana - Going Home [How'd I miss that one for this MM?]
- Barry Manilow - Home Again
- James Taylor - Hello Old Friend

And now, the solutions for this MM #80. There's a few overlaps with my old show, but not very many!
1) "Meeting a man from the motor trade" - "She's Leaving Home", Beatles
2) "Indiana's early morning dew" - "You're My Home", Billy Joel
3) "Tension was running high at my high school" - "My Hometown", Bruce Springsteen
4) "I started to believe that I was born at seventeen" - "Home Town", Joe Jackson
5) "And looked into the empty faces of the people of the night" - "New York's Not My Home", Jim Croce
6) "Watergate does not bother me" - "Sweet Home Alabama", Lynyrd Skynyrd
7) "One and one is two, six and two is eight" - "Sweet Home Chicago", Blues Brothers
8) "Coming out the woodwork, through the open door" - "Home By The Sea", Genesis
9) "A discouraging word" - "Home On The Range", Traditional
10) "Listen close to the guitar man" - "Homesick", Atlanta Rhythm Section
11) "Watch the parking meters" - "Subterranean Homesick Blues", Bob Dylan
12) "I got elastic bands keepin' my shoes on" - "Nobody Home", Pink Floyd
13) "A requiem was never sung, no elegy was read" - "Nobody's Home", Kansas
14) "I'm in no hurry baby, time can wait" - "I Don't Want to Go Home", Southside Johnny and The Asbury Jukes
15) "I was a gypsy lost in the twilight zone" - "Who Says You Can't Go Home", Bon Jovi
16) "I'll play the game and pretend" - "Homeward Bound", Simon & Garfunkel
17) "Times have changed and times are strange" - "Mama I'm Coming Home", Ozzy Osbourne
18) "Tryin' to love me baby, love some other man too" - "Bring It On Home", Led Zeppelin
19) "I'll give you jewelry, money too" - "Bring It On Home To Me", Sam Cooke, etc.
20) "Take that look of worry, I'm an ordinary man" - "Take Me Home", Phil Collins
21) "I can feel your heartbeat faster" - "Take Me Home Tonight", Eddie Money
22) "I'll show you sweet delight" - "Let Me Take You Home Tonight", Boston
23) "Life is old there, older than the trees" - "Take Me Home Country Roads", John Denver
24) "You take a trip to the city lights" - "Take The Long Way Home", Supertramp
25) "The millions of faces, but still I'm alone" - "Long, Long Way From Home", Foreigner
26) "I could smell the same deep green of summer" - "Long Walk Home", Bruce Springsteen
27) "Come down off your throne" - "Can't Find My Way Home", Blind Faith
28) "On land or sea or foam" - "Show Me the Way to Go Home", Traditional
29) "Why does every moment have to be so hard?" - "Won't Go Home Without You", Maroon 5
30) "I've got no time for trivialities" - "When I Get Home", The Beatles
31) "Where the lovelight gleams" - "I'll Be Home For Christmas", Bing Crosby et al
32) "Am I in my cabin dreaming?" - "I'm Your Captain (Closer to Home)", Grand Funk Railroad
33) "Traveling where the Westerly winds can fly" - "Celebrate Me Home", Kenny Loggins
34) "Belief over misery, I've seen the enemy" - "This is Home", Switchfoot
35) "And the pain you feel's a different kind of pain" - "Home", Daughtry
36) "Take me to your heart, feel me in your bones" - "Home Sweet Home", Motley Crue
37) "I'll milk those cows, feed the chickens and the horses" - "Back Home", Beach Boys
38) "Snow is cold, rain is wet" - "Home Again", Carole King

Thanks again all! MM #81 was already posted today at Soccer Dad, and look for #82 back here on 2/23.

Musical Monday #80

Welcome to the 80th edition of Musical Monday, the weekly quiz that Soccer Dad and I alternate hosting. As always, the challenge is to identify the title and artist of each song quote below, as well as the common theme of the entire set of songs.

There's a single theme today, though as usual, there may be some additional connections or similarities between consecutive songs:

1) "Meeting a man from the motor trade"
2) "Indiana's early morning dew"
3) "Tension was running high at my high school"
4) "I started to believe that I was born at seventeen"
5) "And looked into the empty faces of the people of the night"
6) "Watergate does not bother me"
7) "One and one is two, six and two is eight"
8) "Coming out the woodwork, through the open door"
9) "A discouraging word"
10) "Listen close to the guitar man"
11) "Watch the parking meters"
12) "I got elastic bands keepin' my shoes on"
13) "A requiem was never sung, no elegy was read"
14) "I'm in no hurry baby, time can wait"
15) "I was a gypsy lost in the twilight zone"
16) "I'll play the game and pretend"
17) "Times have changed and times are strange"
18) "Tryin' to love me baby, love some other man too"
19) "I'll give you jewelry, money too"
20) "Take that look of worry, I'm an ordinary man"
21) "I can feel your heartbeat faster"
22) "I'll show you sweet delight"
23) "Life is old there, older than the trees"
24) "You take a trip to the city lights"
25) "The millions of faces, but still I'm alone"
26) "I could smell the same deep green of summer"
27) "Come down off your throne"
28) "On land or sea or foam"
29) "Why does every moment have to be so hard?"
30) "I've got no time for trivialities"
31) "Where the lovelight gleams"
32) "Am I in my cabin dreaming?"
33) "Traveling where the Westerly winds can fly"
34) "Belief over misery, I've seen the enemy"
35) "And the pain you feel's a different kind of pain"
36) "Take me to your heart, feel me in your bones"
37) "I'll milk those cows, feed the chickens and the horses"
38) "Snow is cold, rain is wet"

Good luck and enjoy!

The Day the Music Died

"I can't remember if I cried
When I read about his widowed bride..."
- Don McLean, "American Pie"

Today marks the 50th anniversary of the tragic plane crash which is now universally known - in Don McLean's famous words - as simply "The Day The Music Died". Hard to imagine it's been half a century since Rock and Roll lost one of its genuine pioneers, Buddy Holly, as well as two other young and rising stars, J. P. "The Big Bopper" Richardson and Ritchie Valens.

In other ways, 1959 was a watershed - or perhaps a low water mark would be a better term - in the history of Rock and Roll. Three other key stars who defined the early Rock era also fell quiescent during, or shortly before, that same year: Elvis Presley (army service), Jerry Lee Lewis (banned), and Little Richard (found religion). Perhaps along with the tragedy of Holly's loss, all these coinciding events truly must have made it seem like Rock and Roll was to perish, as it had been born, with the decade. Yet just a few years later, the genre was experiencing unprecedented growth and revivification, courtesy of a multiplicity of distinct, yet overlapping new movements - the British Invasion, Psychedelic, Progressive Rock, Folk Rock, etc.

There have been other such turning points, other periods of ebb when an accumulation of losses or artistic breakups seemed to spell doom for the future of "Rock as we know it". I recently noted 1970 (extending to early 1971) as one such epoch, when in a short span, both the Beatles and Simon and Garfunkel split up, while era-defining superstars Jimi Hendrix, Jim Morrison, and Janis Joplin all passed away. Once again, it might have seemed to some that Rock was doomed to fade away with the change in decades. Yet in retrospect (and despite how most pop "music" sounded when the 1970s ended), the early years of that decade also saw many acts who would carry Rock forward. This included bridging supergroups from the 60s such as The Who, The Rolling Stones, and Led Zeppelin, new, incredibly talented and prolific solo artists like Elton John, Bruce Springsteen, Billy Joel, and of course, bands too numerous to list who ushered in new musical genres such as Heavy Metal and Arena Rock.

Which brings us to the here and now. I freely admit that I know too little about today's music, and like too little of what I hear. But I also know myself far too well, to simply blame this on the relative lack of talent and/or dedication of today's pop performers - as defensible as such accusations might be. As in many other areas of my life, I'm a bit stuck in my musical comfort zone, tending to stay mostly with the tried and true "Classic Rock" of the mid 60s through mid 80s that I know so well. Yet I'm sure that somewhere out there, there are gifted new performers ready to usher in new and exciting musical eras. So I'll try to keep my ears at least somewhat open - maybe even let my children be my guides here!

After all, despite today's anniversary, we have also been assured (since even before that tragic date) that Rock and Roll Is Here To Stay!

RIP, Buddy, J.P., and Ritchie... and Long Live Rock.