It’s high time for another installment of ‘What the Kids are Listening To,’ an occasional series in which I feature the songs currently topping Billboard’s Hot 100 chart.
The current #1 is an unlikely title holder, and a song I featured on the blog just last week. Childish Gambino’s ‘This is America,’ propelled by its provocative video, earned the singer/actor his first whiff of the top ten, let alone the top spot. Previously, Gambino’s highest charter was ‘Redbone,’ which peaked at #12.
The Rolling Stones’ Sticky Fingers is album three in one of the greatest four-album runs in music history.
It starts with 1968’s Beggar’s Banquet, then 1969’s Let It Bleed, Sticky Fingers in 1971, and finally Exile On Main St. in 1972. Five years, four stone-cold classic albums featuring some of the most indelible rock music ever recorded.
Sting gets a bad rap for being both too middle-of-the-road and too pretentious. He has earned that criticism to a degree (the man released a lute album, for crying out loud!) but any sensible music fan would be silly to dismiss him.
Even setting aside his groundbreaking work with The Police, you need look no farther than his sophomore release, 1987’s …Nothing Like the Sun, for evidence of his greatness.
In this week’s Childish Gambino post, a commenter brought up the dilemma of having an under-appreciated favorite artist hit it big. You’re happy for his or her success, but you kind of liked being in on a secret.
I have two such favorite artists, both of whom I’ve adored for a decade and a half. And as much as I enjoy belonging to their exclusive fan bases, I have to say I’m ready for the world to give them the attention they deserve. One is Tift Merritt; the other is Josh Rouse.
Miranda Lambert is my country music queen, sitting high atop a pedestal, out of reach of most singer-songwriters both inside and outside of the genre. She’s untouchable.
But if she has an heir apparent, it could well be Kacey Musgraves, who just released Golden Hour, her third straight album of delightful country pop and appears to be on a similar critical and commercial trajectory.
Meet Me In Montauk 