Top 10 Local Albums of 2021

Last year, I wrote about how every year I was getting earlier and earlier with my Best Of lists. This year, as you can see, I've reversed that trend. I'm not sure why. It just took me longer this year to get my stuff together. 

This is the first of my three year-end Best Of lists, to be followed by Top 10 Albums of 2020 and Top 20 Songs of 2020. Traditionally, I've always posted this one first on this blog, the reason being that obviously, any "local" album that shows up on my Top 10 Albums list would also, by necessity, show up on this one.

But here's a couple of thoughts about music in 2021, the second year of the global COVID pandemic:

1. While I found a lot of really good music out there this year, I didn't find much GREAT music. In fact, this year, for the first time ever, I didn't rate any LPs higher than 3.5 out of 5. I'm usual pretty selective with 4.5's and 5's - these days, I rarely ever rate an album higher than a 4 when I first hear it. I prefer to rate the best LP's a 4 to start off with, and let them grow into 4.5's and 5's after a year or two roll by and I get some perspective on them. However, this year, I awarded no 4's at all. And,

2. SPOILER ALERT: While I've had years where 7 out of 10 of my Top 10 Albums come from local artists, this year, none of them did. There is no overlap whatsoever between my Top 10 Albums list and my Top 10 Local Albums list. Does that mean the releases on this list suck? Not at all. These are all fine LPs, especially #'s 1 and 2. I just look at it like these are all flawed gems. But they are still gems.

Three more thoughts before I give you the actual list.

1. Once again, as I've drifted further and further from the actual local Long Island music scene in my own life, this list comprises all artists who can in some way, shape or form be considered local to the New York/Tri-State area. These are all nationally known musicians/bands who have national, and in some cases, international, followings. I did get to hear some fine releases from "local" artists in the more classical sense this year, including albums from Smol Data, Rorie Kelly, Russ Seeger and Quickdraw, and I wanted to give a special nod of respect to them here. But this Top 10 is a bit more national than I'd probably like it be, partially because I'm not out there anymore as much as I'd like to be, and partially because I think the COVID virus is still doing a lot to squelch an actual local Long Island music scene.

2. As for the definition of the word "local", as always, I try to keep it very loose. For the purposes of picking a Top 10 Local Albums list, here's what I consider "local": 1. Long Island, for sure; 2. The five boroughs of NYC (especially Brooklyn, where a lot of Long Island bands have run off to); 3. Sometimes Jersey or a little ways upstate, if the mood takes me. (As I've said in the past, I'm not giving away money or anything, so I kind of get to make up the rules as I go along). Also, if a band or artist spent a decent amount of time living on and playing on Long Island or in the City in the past, they get to qualify, even if they've moved to another area of the country. And,

3. My trend towards digital music has continued, to the point that almost all of my 2021 music was purchased in the form of a digital album, as opposed to just 3 or 4 years ago, when I wouldn't even permit non-physical media to be considered for this list.

The overall rules for consideration to make this Top 10 list are A. An album has to meet my definition of "local" in #2 above, and it has to be a full-length album of at least seven songs (unless there are one or more epic-length songs). EPs aren't allowed. It also has to be all by one artist -- no compilations.

So let's get started.

Top 10 Local Albums of 2021

10. Sufjan Stevens - Convocations

I'll be honest, I really didn't want to include this album on this list. For one thing, although Sufjan clearly qualifies (he was born in Michigan, and I think he lives up in the Catskills now, but according to his Wikipedia page, he lived in NYC for 20 years), this is the second year in a row where he's eating up two spots on this list. (He's a prolific little so-and-so.) And for another, this is just such a different album musically than any other LP here. But ultimately, it just wouldn't be denied.

Convocations is actually a 5-disc, 49-song set of all instrumental new age trance music which functions as a meditation on the five stages of grief. It's not much an album to listen to as it is one to allow to wash over you. (Why he couldn't throw in a 50th song irritates the hell out of my OCD, but it is what it is.) 

Favorite Track: Sufjan Stevens - Meditation II

9. Xeno & Oaklander - Vi/deo

When this two-piece Brooklyn duo first made this list two years ago, I compared them to Eurythmics. I'm not really happy with that comparison, though. For one thing, vocalist Liz Wendelbois is French/Norwegian, with an ethereal voice and a French accent. (Her partner, Sean McBride, is a Maryland boy.) For another, this year, at least, their music, while still somewhat icy, is making me think as much of a less-complicated Stereolab as it is of Eurythmics. As best I can tell, this is their seventh full-length album.

Favorite Track: Xeno & Oaklander - Infinite Sadness

8. Sleigh Bells - Texis

Where our previous entry was cold and ethereal, this Brooklyn-based duo is noisy and raucous. They mix David E. Miller's rude guitars and overdriven production with Alexis Krauss's sing-song vocals. After getting off to a great start with their 2010 initial release Treats, I feel like they've been a little lost for the last decade or so. This, their fifth full-length LP, sees them getting back to surer footing.

Favorite Track: Sleigh Bells - Justine Go Genesis

7. The Antlers - Green to Gold

The Antlers are a Brooklyn-based folky indie rock band who are now a two-piece. They're sort of like a way, way more laid back version of The Decemberists. The reason for this is probably because founder/frontperson Peter Silberman suffers from a number of hearing-based conditions that make him sensitive to the loud stuff. (You probably won't find him at a Sleigh Bells concert, for example, unless he's wearing some industrial-grade ear plugs). Consequently, the music here is soft, quite warm, and often very beautiful. This is The Antlers' sixth LP, and first in seven years.

Favorite Track: The Antlers - Wheels Roll Home

6. Infintome - Voyage Home

I can't tell you a lot about these guys, but I'll give you what I've got. Infinitome is the project of two twin brothers whom I think were initially from New Jersey, David and Richard Horn. This is their only LP under this band name, although they've apparently been playing together in a number of bands for years (and they're rumored to be working on a follow-up). On this one, they went out and hired themselves an ace drummer (Scott Higham) and recorded a mostly instrumental progressive rock space opera set far in the future, where an archaeologist seeks to uncover the secrets of humanity's long-lost home, a planet called Earth. The music here is inspired by bands such as Yes, Genesis and Kansas. Works for me.

Favorite Track: Infinitome - Voyage Home

5. Sufjan Stevens and Angelo De Augustine - A Beginner's Mind

Here he is again! Sufjan, Sufjan, Sufjan - don't you maybe want to find something else to do besides music once in a while? Join a bowling league! Take a cruise, maybe? No? Well, I guess it's going to be up to the rest of you guys to up your games if you don't want him hogging up this list every single year.

Anyway, this LP is a bit more of usual the Sufjan style than Convocations, as he and frequent touring partner/opening act Angelo De Augustine give us 14 graceful tracks of lovely low-key music with exquisite vocal harmonies, each of which is purportedly based on a film. (My favorite, "The Pillar of Souls", for example, is supposed to be based on Hellraiser III: Hell on Earth. Sweet!) So I guess even when he tries to do something else, like watch a movie, it gets turned into a song. Now that's dedication. (Or insanity.)

Favorite Track: Sufjan Stevens and Angelo De Augustine - Pillar of Souls

4. Laura Stevenson - Laura Stevenson

This Rockville Center native has made this list before. As always, her voice and her musical compositions are as warm as honey. She's a particularly well-loved artist on the music website Sputnik Music, where this LP came in at # 26 on the staff's Top 50 list. I don't really know what else to say besides, "Enjoy."

Favorite Track: Laura Stevenson - Continental Divide

3. Dream Theater - A View From the Top of the World

After a couple of missteps in the mid-2010's culminating with their ambitious but often cringeworthy 2016 effort The Astonishing, this is DT's second album in a row to make this list. This is a very solid project overall, but the clear highlight for me is "Transcending Time", which sounds like a Boston song with tasty modern synth elements. I've never been a huge fan of vocalist James LaBrie, but the son of a bitch sings his heart out on this album, and John Petrucci's guitars are just on fire on this album. (Petrucci also wrote four of the album's seven songs.) I couldn't really ask for much more from these guys.

Favorite Track: Dream Theater - Transcending Time

2. Torres - Thirstier

There was just a hair trigger between my #2 and #1 local albums; they're both really good. Torres has been no stranger to my Best Of lists over the last five or six years, and this one is probably her best LP to date. I'm not going to be able to give you my favorite track for the LP, as one or two of these little beauties just might show up on my Top 20 Songs list (hint, hint), but this is an album rich with songs about her relationship with her fiancee, artist Jenna Gribbon (who designed the cover for her 2020 album Silver Tongue).

A Favorite Track - Torres - Big Leap

1. Blackmore's Night - Nature's Light

I think this was the only actual album review I wrote this year, so you guys should have seen this coming. Blackmore's Night has long been one of my favorite bands. Candice Night's voice is still simply majestic, and Blackmore is Blackmore - he's a legend, and deservedly so. This is another case where I can't give you my top track, because - reasons. But I'll hook you up with something else totally worthwhile.

A Favorite Track - Blackmore's Night - Second Element

So that's my Top 10 Local Albums of 2021 list. I'll be back in a day or so with my Top 10 Albums of 2021 overall list. Meantime, if you'd like to listen to these recommended tracks as a playlist, here it is: Top 10 Local Albums of 2021

Favorite Artists, Part 14: About The Go-Go's

Wow, that's a disgrace. I see that I haven't published one of these since last April. I had no idea I was so far behind. Anyway, let's talk about The Go-Go's and why they're on the My Favorite Artists list. 

The Go-Go's are the most successful all-female band of all time, and this in spite of an amazingly small discography. Their entire recorded output basically consists of three studio albums released between 1981 and 1984, a compilation album that included some interesting early and unreleased stuff plus a successful new single in 1991, an excellent studio album that most people (except for hardcore Go-Go's fans) were unaware of in 2001, and a slightly successful single released in 2020 in conjunction with a documentary film about the band.

In spite of this, The Go-Go's have remained a popular touring band practically since their inception in 1978, except for some time off here and there, and their lineup has mostly remained consistent. Their classic lineup consists of Belinda Carlisle on lead vocals, Jane Wiedlin on backing vocals and rhythm guitar, Charlotte Caffey on lead guitar, keyboards and backing vocals, Kathy Valentine on bass, backing vocals and guitar, and Gina Schock on drums and backing vocals. And if you read their bios, you'll see that these gals have definitely taken a lickin' (drugs, sex, drugs, more drugs, etc.) and kept on tickin'.

In many ways, The Go-Go's are an unusual band. We'll start with the obvious - there just haven't been that many successful all-female rock bands that have played their own instruments, written their own music, etc.. Offhand, I can think of The Bangles, Sleater-Kinney, L7 ... I suppose it depends on how you define successful. (Even The Runaways are largely known today because of the careers Joan Jett and Lita Ford had after the group broke up.) You get my point - The Go-Go's are the queens of a pretty selective sub-category of rock and roll.

Then there's the structure of the band. Belinda Carlisle is the face of the band, and clearly their most successful member in terms of name recognition, the success of her solo career, etc. However, behind the scenes, Caffey, Valentine and Wiedlin did the lion's share of the songwriting. Don't get me wrong, Carlisle's vocals were and are hugely important to the group's success. But of those big first three albums that are responsible for The Go-Go's' fame and popularity, Carlisle only even received partial songwriting credits for her lyrics on a handful of tracks. 

So how did a band with such a light recording output make the My Favorite Artists list, and do it slam-dunk style. Let me count the ways.

The first is the most obvious. I've made it clear in the past that I'm all about the vocals, and also that I've got a soft spot in particular for female singers. And this band has vocals up the wazoo. Belinda has always been a distinctive and very appealing lead singer. (Well, maybe not always, but we'll come back to that later.) The Go-Go's were pop punk before there was such a thing as pop-punk, and Belinda's cute little guttural growls fit their music perfectly. Add to that the fact that Jane Wiedlin is a fairly effective singer herself and all three of the other band members are also competent vocalists, and you've got a smorgasbord of sonic delight.

Next up is the songwriting. Once again, although their catalog is relatively small compared to a lot of other bands, its chock full of well written pop rock tunes. Consider if you will such tracks as "We Got the Beat", "Vacation", "Head Over Heals", "Our Lips Are Sealed" - these were some of the highlights of the early 1980's. The Go-Go's started as a punk band, and they never totally lost touch with the power of rock music - they just figured out how to imbue it with hooks.

Because their discography is so sparse, let's take a look at it album by album. Their first effort, 1981's Beauty and the Beat, was the LP that hoisted them to fame, and rightly so. Caffey's classic "We Got the Beat" was a #2 hit in the U.S., and was famously used in the opening sequence of Amy Heckerling's film Fast Times at Ridgemont High. (This was the film that launched Sean Penn's career, but let's forgive it for that.) Wiedlin and her former lover Terry Hall's song "Our Lips Are Sealed" was also a successful single, coming in at #20 on the Billboard charts. The LP also contained such other popular '80s songs as "Lust to Love", "This Town" and "Skidmarks on My Heart". The album itself reached #1 on Billboard, and has since gone double platinum. After the release of Beauty and the Beat, The Go-Go's were a world-famous band.

Their second album, Vacation, was a great deal less consistent, probably because the band was exhausted after the touring, hubbub, etc. leading up to and following Beauty and the Beat. Nevertheless, the title track was another iconic hit, reaching #8 on the Billboard charts, and it also had some other fine songs, including "Girl of 100 Lists," "Beatnik Beach", "Cool Jerk" (which was a cover of a 1960s song by The Capitols) and "Get Up and Go" (which achieved only minor success as a single). Vacation charted #8 in the U.S. on the Billboard album charts.

The Go-Go's third album, Talk Show, is really the one responsible for rocketing them onto my My Favorite Artist's list. For a long while, I would have told you that I thought it was the best overall album of the 1980s. In recent years, I've moderated that a little, and I now place Synchronicity by The Police and The Unforgettable Fire by U2 slightly above it. Nevertheless, it's still in the conversation for me as far as the best albums of the 1980s. It starts off on a high (and highly energetic) note with "Head Over Heels", which was the band's third most successful single of all time, and as far as I'm concerned, it never lets up. Other standout tracks include the LP's two other singles, "Turn to You" and "Yes or No", as well as Jane Wiedlin's "Forget That Day" and the slow but powerful "I'm With You". Talk Show reached #18 on the Billboard album chart.

After that, drugs, personality conflicts and exhaustion let to a breakup. This lasted until 1990, when they reunited for a benefit concert and a rerecording of "Cool Jerk" for a greatest hits comp. They reunited again in 1994 for the compilation LP Return to the Valley of The Go-Go's, which included a number of fun rarities including a live version of "Johnny Are You Queer?" (which they were the first band to ever perform live) and three newly recorded tracks. One of these, "The Whole World Lost Its Head", was another successful single. This kick-started the resumption of The Go-Go's' touring career.

Now that they were back together, in 2001, The Go-Go's released their final LP (to date), God Bless The Go-Go's. The album did come in at #57 on the Billboard albums chart, and honestly, quality-wise, it was probably as good as anything else the band had ever done. But by now there was a whole new generation dominating the music scene, and their one single from the LP, "Unforgiven", co-written by Charlotte Caffey and Billie Joe Armstrong of Green Day fame, never really gained any traction in the charts, fine though it was.

In the meantime, in between Go-Go's tours, all of the ladies have had solo careers. Belinda's has obviously been the most successful - with strong charting singles like "Heaven Is a Place on Earth", "I Get Weak" and "Mad About You", and several albums (especially her earlier solo efforts) selling quite well too. Wiedlin has had some moderate success herself, her highest-charting single being "Rush Hour" (at #9), and honestly, her Very Best Of comp is as strong a collection of songs as you could possibly ask for. The other ladies have also continued to stay active, playing in bands like The Graces (Caffey), House of Schock (Schock. Duh.) and The BlueBonnets and The Delphines (Valentine).

As for their reunion tours, I've seen them live twice. I saw them at Jones Beach in 2000, and they were excellent. I saw them again at The Westbury Music Fair in 2002, and at first, I was disappointed that the sound man had the instruments cranked up so loud that it drowned out Belinda's vocals. Then when I listened more closely, I realized that it was probably by design - she didn't sound great, and I assumed she had blown out her voice like Ian Anderson. Years later, when I read her autobiography Lips Unsealed: A Memoir, I realized that was probably when she was going through one of her struggling-with-addictions periods. I've heard clips of her singing after that, and her voice was fine (although in recent years, she's lost a step to age. But so have I.) Denise and I had tickets to see them live in 2020. Unfortunately, the pandemic put the kibosh on that.

The Go-Go's have added a few new lines to their resumes recently. Their music was made into a Broadway Musical, Head Over Heels, in 2018. They were the subject of a documentary film in 2020 (for which they released their first new single since 2001, "Club Zero"). And most recently, they were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2021.

To wrap it up, although they only ever released just the four studio albums, the quality of those LPs was so high as to easily move The Go-Go's onto the list of My Favorite Artists. Belinda is still scheduled to be on the 80's Cruise that Denise and I will be sailing on this coming March, so maybe I'll even run into her then. Although I have no idea what I'd say to her - unless she cuts me off on the buffet line! Then I'll have plenty to say to her.

Next up in this series is a band that has gone through several incarnations: Fleetwood Mac!

Honorable Mentions for 2021, R.I.P Mike Nesmith and Cruise News

I guess I'll start with the sad stuff first. Although I don't currently have The Monkees on the My Favorite Artists list, if you'd have asked 12-year-old me, they'd have been the only band on that list. In the raging battles that took place in my grammar school of "Which band is better, The Monkees or The Beatles?", I was firmly in camp Monkees. I would defend myself by pointing out that The Beatles weren't in their best period right then, pumping out singles like "Hello, Goodbye" and "Lady Madonna", but the truth is, I don't think I really need a defense -- yeah, I recognize that The Beatles are far more important to the history of music, and that they reached artistic heights The Monkees could only dream of. But in my heart, I still prefer The Monkees. And the heart loves what the heart loves.

Of all of The Monkees, Mike Nesmith was clearly my favorite (with Mickey Dolenz running second.) On their TV show, Davey was the teen heartthrob, Mickey was the funny one, Peter was the stupid one, but Mike was the sincere one. He was also the best songwriter in the band (although the majority of The Monkees' best known songs were written by excellent outside writers like Carole King and Neil Diamond.) I loved a lot of the songs that Mike was the lead singer on, like "What Am I Doing Hanging Round?" and "The Door Into Summer." And I'll always have very fond memories of a Frank Walker open mic gig on a night where the only two people in the audience were Valerie Griggs and myself (I think it was a bad-weather night), where we turned Frank into our own personal jukebox by requesting one Mike Nesmith song after another. Good times! (Frank was loving it, too!)

I thought about catching The Monkees live over the years, but it was very seldom in my adulthood that the four of them toured together, and the tickets always seemed to be a little overpriced. (And because he'd gotten fairly wealthy due to his mother having invented Liquid Paper, Mike was the one most often missing.) But Denise caught the last two surviving Monkees, Mickey and Mike, just last month at The Paramount, and she said that while Mickey was still hanging in their pretty good, Mike was looking kind of long in the tooth. I made an unfortunately prescient joke at that time that on their next tour, it would probably just be "The Monkee". I'm sad that I was right.

So Rest in Peace, Mike Nesmith. You've given a lot of people, including myself, a great deal of musical enjoyment over the years. The Monkees never really got the respect I think they deserved. But they had many fans who loved them.

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As the year is winding down and I'm trying to finish off listening to and rating all of my 2021 music so I can do my Best Of lists, I can tell you I consider it good year, but not a great year, for music. The truth is there were quite a few LPs that I liked, but none so far that I've ranked higher than 3.5 out of 5 stars.

But I can see that I'm going to have no problem filling out a Top Ten list, and have a decent number of respectable also-rans as well.

Here are some albums that I don't think are going to make my Top Ten list, although one or two of them theoretically still could. I've got three or four albums left to listen to this year, and then I'm going to give the Top 20 or one more listen, so maybe one of these guys will have a chance to jump up. However, none of them are in my Top 11 right now, so I feel fairly confident they're not going to jump up two spots to make my Top Ten.

Ad Infinitum - Chapter II: Legacy - I kept my promise this year to keep exploring symphonic metal music. This is the second studio LP by this really top-notch Swiss symphonic metal band.

Sting - The Bridge - This is probably Sting's best album in the last decade or so. For those of you who thought he was through - well, he's not. There are mysterious songs, songs of love and betrayal - this one's got everything. The main single, "If It's Love", is kind of a paint-by-numbers love song, but most of the rest of it is quite good.

Lindsey Buckingham - Lindsey Buckingham - Here's another old-timer who needed to show he still has something left in the tank. I suspect he was a little embarrassed at being canned by Fleetwood Mac the year before the pandemic hit, and this is his "I'll show them!" LP. He did a pretty impressive job. It's the only Lindsey Buckingham solo album ever that almost made my Top Ten list.

As December Falls - Happier. - This British pop punk band wins my Paramore-Album-of-the-Year award. They totally hearken back to Paramore's glory days, before Zac and Josh Ferro left the band, almost slavishly so. Some have criticized them for copying the Paramore pop punk sound closely. As for me, I'm just glad to have an album like this again, and if Hayley and her boys are no longer capable of giving it to me, I'll take it where I can get it.

Chvrches - Screen Violence - I seem to be in the minority, at least on the Sputnik Music website, in that I don't like this one quite as much as their 2018 effort, Love Is Dead. But it's still pretty great, and their collaboration with The Cure's Robert Smith on "How Not to Drown" is epic.

Gary Numan - Intruder - This LP continues in the same strong industrial vein as 2017's Savage (Songs From a Broken World). The only difference is this time, there's no one standout track to match up with that album's "My Name Is Ruin", which is why it will land just a little short of My Top Ten list. It's still plenty worthwhile, though.

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Lastly, I wrote a month or two ago about my own response to the pandemic in relation to the March '80s Cruise out of Orlando that Denise and I are booked on. Well, I've not only decided to go full steam ahead with that cruise - if the pandemic doesn't cancel it, I'm gonna go for it - but I've also booked us on another cruise in May out of Cape Liberty in New Jersey.

I've been wanting to try out a cruise from Celebrity Cruise Lines - I'm older now, and I'd like to try a slightly more upscale (and less child-friendly) cruise experience. So we're going on a 9-night cruise that will take us up to Newport, Rhode Island, then swing us down to Charleston, South Carolina for a couple of days, and then sail out to Bermuda before returning to New Jersey.

I've never been to South Carolina, and in case of any medical situations, I like the idea that we spend most of the time in US waters. If nothing else, at least it will get me out of the house for awhile, am I right?

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I'm hoping to get in one more post this week before Christmas, as I'm really just about ready to write that Go-Go's article. So I'm going to hold off on wishing you guys a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays until then.

About Song of the Day, Thanksgiving and this Blog

Well, you've probably noticed that I haven't posted on November's Song of the Day. That's because I kind of quit it. 

Here's the deal -- I was actually hosting the month, and for awhile things were going swimmingly. The theme I picked was Songs With a Color in the Title, and I started it out with "Red Skies at Night" by The Fixx. It was doing so-so -- some people got it, others who just don't have that '80s sensibility called it cheesy, but I'm kind of used to that. Eventually I added a second rec, the seriously weird "Let's Make the Water Turn Black" by The Mothers of Invention, from their classic LP We're Only It for the Money. 

But something happened along the way that happens a lot to me lately. OK, not just lately. I got aggravated with my fellow man. "Not you!" you say. "You're usually so even tempered." I know, right?!

It started when one of the chaps, with whom I get along fine, decided for some reason I'll never understand to give a score of .01 out of 5 to Peter Gabriel's "Red Rain". To "Red Rain"! If they'd have done that to "Red Skies at Night", I'd have been annoyed, but Jesus, who gives a score like to Peter Gabriel, especially on one of his best songs? I thought maybe he was just trying to torpedo it because he didn't want to win the highest score for the month, but he swore that that was just his assessment of the song, and that there was "nothing good about it".

Anyway, I took a breath and tried not to let it get to me. I was even thrilled a few days later when one of the guys whose musical taste is usually the total opposite of mine actually gave a 5 to my Zappa song. (To be fair, I knew he'd score it pretty well because he loves Zappa, but I wasn't expecting a 5.)

Then it all went horribly wrong. Somebody recommended Prince's "Purple Rain". Now I've never written about it here, because it's just never come up, but I consider Prince to have been a total goofball, an artist just too ridiculous to take seriously. Between the phase he went through were he changed his name to a Squiggle, to the time at the beginning of her career where he tried to talk the singer Vanity into going with the name "Vageena", the guy was just a total goober. Sorry to speak ill of the dead, but that's how I feel about it.

I never really liked Michael Jackson -- his style of pop was just never my thing -- but at least I understood why so many people revered him, and even I went out and bought a copy of Thriller (like everyone else). Prince I just never got, and I've always been mystified that so many musicians I respect hold him in such esteem. (Go watch the trailer sometime for his "classic" second film, Under the Cherry Moon and then try to tell me that he wasn't a total idiot.) The most I'll give you is that I actually like "When Doves Cry" and I sort of half like "Raspberry Beret". But on the whole, the guy was a bowser. (For the record, Denise likes him. Go figure.)

Anyway, I gave "Purple Rain" a mediocre score, a 2.4 or 2.5, something like that, and I expected to get blasted for it. But then, much to my amazement, one of the regulars gave it an even-lower 1 out of 5, and declared that while he actually rated the song much higher than that, from now on, he was going to give any song that anyone rec'd that was a classic an automatic 1, in protest. And right after that, another one of the guys also scored it a 1 and said he was going to do the same.

Now, in a way, I get it. The actual idea of Song of the Day was always to rec a somewhat obscure song that you like that you think might have flown below other people's radar. Instead, we've had songs like Bowie's "Diamond Dogs" and Kate Bush's "Running Up That Hill" win the month, and that is kind of weird. But as soon as you start ranking songs strategically, on any other criteria than what you actually believe the song deserves, you've gone down a dark hole. It's a short step from there to, 'I think Running Up That Hill' deserves a 4.8 but I'm going to give it a 2 so my song has a chance."

Anyway, right about that point, my aggravation meter went off, and I just needed to get away. It was either that, or I was going to start getting into arguments that would make me more and more irritated. So I made sure the gang had what they needed to finish off the month, and I removed myself from SOTD.

If any of you want to know how it turned out, you can find the list for the month at Sputnik Music Song of the Day November 2021 and the YouTube playlist at November SOTD playlist. The winning song for the month was the rec for November 30, "Blue Leaves, Red Dust" by Youth Group.

I mentioned Thanksgiving because it's relevant to the discussion of my "aggravation meter", and why, as I've spoken about before, I find myself becoming more and more of a housebound shut in. Because it just seems that more and more lately, when I have to deal with other people, I just hate it.

Now don't get me wrong, it wasn't the family or friends at Thanksgiving, it was other people.

Here's the story -- at around 1PM or so, I left to pick up my brother at the train station. I got there a little early, pulled into a spot, and waited for the train. As I did, much like the playground scene in The Birds, first one car showed up, then another, then another ... you get the picture.

And it was all going fine, until one pinhead got the bright idea that instead of pulling into a spot, he would wait right at the front of the lane that people would be using to leave the parking lot once they've picked up their parties. Because he was obviously way more important than the rest of us, so why should he have to wait?

Sure enough, a minute later, another brain surgeon sees this and says, "Great idea!" and pulls in right behind the first fellow. Pretty soon, you've got a train of these VIP's parked one behind the other, and blocking in those of us who pulled into actual parking spots.

The train arrived and my brother found me right away. But of course we couldn't go anywhere, because there was a line of cars behind us locking us all in as we waited for the original fool to move. And naturally, his party were the last people off the train, and there about four of them, and they all had suitcases that they had to spastically try to shove into his car before he could move and let everybody else start to leave the parking lot.

As you'd expect, as this was going on, I was narrating all of this to my brother, in between shouting out the car window, "Hey, you want to step it up there, Blondie?!" to the last of the morons trying to fit a suitcase into a car as though it was a square peg and the car was a round hole. (Actually, to her credit, I think the reason she was having so much trouble was she was flustered, because she, at least, had the good grace to be aware that she was mucking up the progress for everyone.) And my brother was laughing hysterically, because, well, he's my brother and he knows me.

The moral of the story, of course, is that I continue to grow older and crankier, and less and less tolerant of the foibles of my fellow human beings.

Anyway, I'm not exactly sure where this blog will be going in 2022. I'm not going to shut it down, because I still want to continue the My Favorite Artists series, and if Omicron allows Denise and I to go on the 80s cruise in March, I'd like to write about that, too. But I'm really not expecting to be going back to live shows anytime soon, especially with COVID seemingly picking up steam again. (In fact, we had a bit of a scare this week, as Denise had been exposed and also was showing symptoms. Luckily, she tested negative, and she's almost better now.) 

So while I've been trying to at least write two entries a month over the course of this last year, one of which has been my monthly description of the Song of the Day list, I don't know that I'll have the material to make that happen anymore. But when I figure it out, I'll let you know.

In any event, I'm trying to finish up my listening for 2021, so if nothing else, I'll have the year-end Best Of lists coming out in a few weeks. Until then, if I don't get another post up before the end of the month, Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays everyone!

October 2021 Song of the Day

 OK, I know I'm late with this, but this time it wasn't my fault. I was ready to post on November 1 - it looked like October was pretty well settled to me. But the host for the month, SlothcoreSam, declared he was going to wait a few days to finalize the results. So in deference to him, I waited until today. (He posted his final results last night.) Anyway, I would have been correct if I'd posted a few days ago, but in the end, I guess it's no biggie.

For new readers, this blog entry refers to the monthly Song of the Day list on the Sputnik Music website. Each month, one User hosts the list and names a theme. Everyone then recommends songs in line with this theme, and people rate the various song recommendations. The list of October songs can be found at Sputnik Music Song on the Day - October 2021. 

1. The theme for the month was "Your Entrance Theme", which was described as "What is your theme song? What song do you want playing as you walk onto the stage? What song do you want playing when you rock up to a party? What song do you want playing when you are on the campaign trail? What song do you want playing when you arrive at work? What song do you want playing when you step off a plane to the awaiting paparazzi? Any answer to those questions will fit, or any other time you want music playing as an accompaniment to an introduction, the more creative the better."

2. Participation was pretty good this month, so everyone only got to make one recommendation. I used mine for the theme I want played at my wake, "The Tern and the Swallow," by Irish singer Cara Dillon. (I know that's a bit maudlin, but it's the thing I thought of when I first heard the song - it's sad, it's pretty, it's Celtic, and it speaks of going home.) Cara Dillon - The Tern and the Swallow

3. I had a pretty miserable month listening wise, to be honest. There were way too many hip-hop selections for my taste, and I wasn't that thrilled with a lot of the other choices, either. So my average score for the month was 2.67 out of 5. My highest scored song (and it wasn't all that high) was "Triassic" by the German progressive metal band The Ocean. The Ocean - Triassic

4. For a long while, it looked as though the winning song would be Kanye West's "Black Skinhead". However, two scores that were atypically low for the group (one of which was mine, but it wasn't the lowest) shot down old Ye. So the overall winning song was "Flashlight" by the 70's funk band Parliament. Parliament - Flashlight

5. For those who like to listen along at home, all 31 songs for the month were up on YouTube for once. So here's a playlist: October 2021 Song of the Day YouTube Playlist

I'm really hoping to finally have that Go-Go's article ready for you later this month, and maybe I'll even have an album review as well. (I actually have a couple of ideas, if I can find the time and the inspiration.)

Until then, have a lovely November, everyone!

COVID, Isolation and the 80's Cruise

We are now a year and a half deep into this COVID crisis, and my family has been luckier than many. We've ridden it out, all stayed (mostly) healthy, and have generally been able to keep our income coming in. We have one another, so while our relatively small (one-bathroom) house has occasionally felt a little tight spacewise, at least we haven't had to deal with the isolation felt by many of those who live alone.

There are a million things to be said about these times, some personal, some political. I'm going to focus on the personal.

We've each of dealt with the situation in our own way. I'm vaccinated -- I got the Johnson & Johnson vaccine two days before they pulled it off the market for a week, due to issues with people getting blood clots. (Fun, fun, fun!) Nevertheless, of the five of us living in the house, I'm the one who, for various reasons (some health-related, some not) has chosen to maintain the most isolation from the outside world. This has been relatively easy to do -- I was 95% working from home before the pandemic. 

I've joked that the pandemic has brought me just within reach of my lifelong dream of becoming a housebound agoraphobe. Like most jokes, there's a lot of truth living in the heart of this one. I'm someone who has always found the world to be something of an unpleasant and dangerous place, and these days, it feels more dangerous than ever.

It's not that I never go out. I run out to do my necessary errands (banking, doctor's appointments, the pharmacy, and all that) at least a couple of times a week. And because the family has had some car issues, I often find myself driving my daughter to and from work, etc.

But even when I go out, the vast majority of things I do can be and are accomplished from the comfort of my car. I pretty much never go into large crowds anymore, and I'm just fine with that. I've eaten out on rare occasions, and while I've enjoyed them, I'm fine that it's a once-in-awhile thing. Some of this is out of health concerns -- having been hospitalized for 5 days with pneumonia earlier this year, I'm certainly in no rush to catch COVID. I sort of enjoy breathing. If I'm honest, though, a lot of my hermit-like existence has been by preference. The pandemic has simply provided a rationale for it.

But even a curmudgeon such as myself needs to find strategies and pastimes to deal with being home so much of the time. And God knows regular TV has been little to no help. I find most TV and most movies pretty much unwatchable these days. It seems that rather than simply entertaining, Hollywood has now mostly taken to preaching, loudly and in the most obnoxious ways. And if I enjoyed being preached at, the churches might have seen a whole lot more of me over the years.

So what have I been amusing myself with these last 18 months? Mostly, just a few tried and true staples.

One of these has been All Elite Wrestling (AEW). I've always been an on-again/off-again wrestling fan over the years. I've tried to explain to Denise that wrestling is like soap opera for guys -- there are heroes and villains, storylines, heartbreak, betrayals, etc. And since AEW rose up to challenge Vince McMahon and the WWE's supremacy two years ago, I've mostly been on board. I watch the Wednesday night AEW Dynamite show religiously. (At least I'm religious about something!). And my daughter and I have made a tradition of watching the AEW pay per view shows every couple of months. And AEW has a number of other ongoing shows, podcasts, etc. to keep me amused.

Another staple has naturally been music. As you guys have probably deduced from this music blog, music has always been a huge part of my life. I obviously haven't been going out to live shows, although Denise started finding '80s cover bands by the end of last summer, and she's been going to shows and concerts ever since.

But I've made do with a mix of new and old recorded music, the occasional live concert broadcast on YouTube or Facebook, and a variety of recorded concerts on YouTube.

And as a matter of fact, YouTube has become a major part of my leisure watching. I watch videos on a variety of topics - travel, politics and culture, pro wrestling, horror films, etc. 

At some point early last year, prior to the pandemic, there was an episode of AEW Dynamite that took place on a cruise ship, which I loved. And although I haven't been on a cruise since 2017, one way I coped during these COVID days was to live vicariously through  a number of YouTube cruise vloggers.

And this finally brings me up to what I wanted to write about today -- the 2022 80's Cruise out of Port Canaveral, Florida next March.

As some of you might know, Denise and my son were on the 80's Cruise in March of 2020 when the world came to a stop. Denise was originally supposed to go with a friend -- I chose to pass, for work and other reasons. And when her friend cancelled due to health concerns (as the whole COVID thing was just starting to ramp up), my son stepped in, mostly to look out for his Mom.

So the two of them were at sea the day Governor Cuomo closed down Broadway. Obviously, it was a nervous time for the rest of us here at home, hoping they'd get back without issue. (She likes to scare me, my Denise. She was in a hospital in Manhattan when the attack occurred on 9/11/2001. There's a reason my hair is gray.) Luckily, they made it without a hitch, and neither had caught COVID.

Denise was already registered for the 80's Cruise scheduled for March of 2021, but the company wisely cancelled it early on and moved everyone's registration to the 2022 cruise. And since I figured for sure the whole COVID thing would be over by March of 2022 (eat your heart out, Nostradamus!), I told her I'd go with her this time. 

So now here we are, 6 months ahead of sail time, and while things are better, the picture for March is still far from clear -- will the pandemic rear up again this winter? Will things be way better by then? Not even The Shadow knows. 

Now if that ship sails come March, one thing I know for sure -- Denise will be on it if she has to swim there.

When the cruise company offered refunds last month, we had a conversation about it. I pointed out some of the negatives of cruising, including increased testing and masking requirements (these had eased off a bit on cruise ships earlier this year, but thanks to the Delta variant, they're now stricter than ever); our own health risks, according to the CDC; the risks of sailing to countries that are now on the CDC warning lists; the risks of flying, crammed into a plane the way these bastard airlines like to cram you in there (and to be honest, I'm a lot less concerned about the health risks of being on a cruise ship, with all that open space, than I am of flying all squashed up in a plane). I thought for sure my calm logic would sway her. She responded by booking our flights a few days later. So much for refunds.

The truth is, I have an out, if I really want it. While I'd never send Denise on this trip alone in these times, if I really wanted him to, my son indicated he'd step in in a minute. (And why not? Free cruise!). And even though she has a job to contend with, I think my daughter would even be willing to step in and pinch hit for me. (She even likes 80s music, which my son could care less about.) So if I really want it, I have an out.

But here's the thing. Do I really want it?

When we first booked the cruise, it was so far away that I was totally psyched about it. Then, as the months wore on and this stupid disease refused to go away, I started having doubts. These increased over the last few months, as cruise regulations got more strict. When cruising first started up again, vaccinated people were supposed to be getting a pass -- no masks, no testing, etc. if you were vaccinated. (And while it was far from my only consideration, I'd be lying if I said that taking this cruise wasn't one of the several factors that made me decide to take the vax in the first place.)

Anyway, I came to a realization this week -- one of the reasons I'm on the fence about things is that even in non-COVID times, I have a slightly mixed feeling about cruising. This is why I didn't go last year, and why I haven't cruised since 2017. The truth is this -- I LOVE everything about cruising, and I HATE everything you have to do before you get on the ship. Masks and tests and booster shots are just the most recent additions to this. But I HATE flying and the airlines (and most cruises leave out of Florida); I hate the anxiety of getting on a flight on time, getting to the ship on time, wondering do we have all the documentation we need, etc.; and I HATE the whole process of getting onto a cruise ship, going from line to line, dealing with nasty cruise terminal employees (who are NOT employed by the cruise line, but by the port, fyi), etc. Beam me from my living room to deck of the cruise ship and I'm there in a second. Make me go through all that rigamarole, and suddenly I'm a lot less sure.

But with all of those things I hate, this week I started remembering the things I LOVE, including:

1. The cruise itself -- the worst cruise I ever went on was still great. I love it all -- the rocking of the ocean, the entertainment, the food, the chance to see some places I've never seen before (although last time, I was perfectly happy never leaving the ship) -- it's all great! If I had the money to retire on a cruise ship, I'd seriously consider it. And;

2. In this case, the music. I have no idea what the final lineup will look like. On the last 80's cruise, they lost several acts that were afraid to sail, due to the COVID, including the headliners, The B-52s. And this cruise has already lost one its best acts, The Alarm. So I don't know who else might cancel, assuming the cruise even takes place (which I think it will, but I'm not sure.)

But right now, the lineup includes The Human League (this year's headliners), plus Flock of Seagulls (yeah, I know these days it's just Mike with some other randos, but I don't care -- I fricking LOVE Flock of Seagulls!), Belinda Carlise (and The Go-Go's were always another one of my favorite 80s bands), and Berlin. (Just try to tell me "The Metro" wasn't one of the great songs of the 80's and I'll laugh right in your face.)

Other bands I enjoy that are currently booked on the cruise include Modern English, John Cafferty and the Beaver Brown Band, Gene Loves Jezebel (who was one of the substitutes for The Alarm) and John Parr. ("I can feel St. Elmo's fire/Burnin' in me!")

And bands that I'm less into personally, but that are certainly beloved by many, include ABC (Denise is one of the many, and they do put on a great show), 38 Special, Morris Day & The Time, The Dire Straits Legacy (but sans Mark Knopfler), Dramarama, The Sugarhill Gang (shoot me now), and Johnny Hates Jazz (me too, Johnny). There will also be a number of respected 80's tribute and cover bands on board. And Larry the Duck will be there! As well as Lori Majewski, who I also like.

So what do I do? Do I focus on the health risks and all of the pain in the ass things I hate dealing with, or do I focus on the cruise itself (on the beautiful Mariner of the Seas), the music and the fun time with Denise. (Vs. the need not to ruin Denise's good time with my grumpiness, which is always something I have to try to hold in check.)

Hell, even I don't know. It will be as much of a surprise to me as it will to you.

And if you bastards are checking out the date and hoping to come and rob my house, think again suckers! My son (who's built like a lumberjack), my daughter and my daughter's Taekwondo-practicing boyfriend will still be home, so come get some! (Or is it Muay Thai that he practices? I always forget, but whatever, I wouldn't mess with him. Even though he won't take my advice and use a can opener to win his matches like the great wrestling villains of my youth.) So yeah! How about that?

Anyway, the plan is that this cruise will be my big return to writing about live music. (And the crowd rejoiced. Yay.) But we'll have to see how it works out. I'll let you know as we get closer to the date, faithful readers. Until then, stay safe out there.

September 2021 Song of the Day

What can I say about the September Song of the Day list? I have no idea. Let's find out together, shall we?

For new readers, this blog entry refers to the monthly Song of the Day list on the Sputnik Music website. Each month, one User hosts the list and names a theme. Everyone then recommends songs in line with this theme, and people rate the various song recommendations. The list of September songs can be found at Sputnik Music Song of the Day - September 2021. (Bet you guys thought I was just going to stupidly repeat "The list of June songs..." like I have been for the last three months, huh? Well fool me four times, shame on ... oh, forget it.)

1. The theme for the month was Songs That Relax You, the working theory being that September marks the end of summer and a return to busier times. (A lot of Sput Users are students, or grad students, or work at colleges. For the rest of us, September is just business as usual, but whatever.

2. Participation was a little better this month. Nevertheless, I still got to make two picks. While a lot of my fellow Users went new age/ambient, I went in a slightly different direction. My first pick was the lovely song "Breathing" by Ingrid Michaelson. My second choice, which I knew wouldn't be well received, was a bit of Celtic reggae by New York heroes Black 47, in the form of their great tune "Voodoo City". (And I was correct about the reception, heh heh. Sometimes I pick songs for the others, but sometimes I pick them just for me.) Ingrid Michaelson - Breathing; Black 47 - Voodoo City.

3. I had a pretty enjoyable month, with my average rating just a little below a 3 (out of 5). My highest rating was a tie between a song I'd never heard before, "Ever New" by Beverly-Glenn Copeland, and one I've a million times, "What a Wonderful World" by my old neighbor Louis Armstrong. (I used to live right down the block from the cemetery he's buried in.) Beverly-Glenn Copeland - Ever New; Louis Armstrong - What a Wonderful World.

4. As often happens when one person recs a classic and everyone else rates relatively obscure songs, the classic won hands down. So the highest rated song by the group in general was also Louis Armstrong's "What a Wonderful World." Louis Armstrong - What a Wonderful World.

5. And as I always at least try to do (when YouTube will cooperate with me), for those who like to listen along at home, here is the complete playlist for the month. September 2021 Song of the Day YouTube Playlist.

Chillier days are ahead, my friends. So come back next month, and I'll try to warm your hearts with some fine October music. (And maybe I'll even have that Go-Go's article I've been promising you. It could happen!

Stay safe.