The biggest entertainment-related splurge of my life came in the spring of 2016, when I coughed up $500 per ticket for my family of four to see Hamilton on Broadway. Add in airfare, hotel and meals and you’re talking one extravagant weekend.
It was worthy every goddamn penny. My family, during our peak Hamilton obsession, got to witness the original cast a couple of months before they all left the show. Literally a once in a lifetime opportunity.
I really enjoyed Sugarland’s 2008 album Love on the Inside, probably more than I should have.
Honestly, I’m kind of afraid to revisit it. Will I react to my 2008 musical self the way I cringe when I see old photographs? Why on earth did I wear my hair so long? Why on earth did I listen to this?
Or maybe I’d still dig it.
For my last song of Neil Diamond week, I’ll spare all of us and not share ‘You Don’t Bring Me Flowers,’ Diamond’s #1 duet with Barbra Streisand. Instead, here’s ‘Forever in Blue Jeans,’ a track from the same album.
An ode to simplicity, this 1979 track closed out a strong decade for Diamond and ushered in the 80s, where his music descended into schmaltz (‘Heartlight,’ anyone?).
Two years after landing his first #1 song with ‘Cracklin’ Rosie,’ Neil Diamond did it again with ‘Song Sung Blue.’ This would be his last ever solo #1, though he did reach the top spot again with ‘You Don’t Bring Me Flowers,’ a duet with Barbra Streisand.
I know this song best through Frank Sinatra’s cover version, recorded for his 1980 album Trilogy. Sinatra was a staple in my childhood home; Neil Diamond not so much.
Neil Diamond saw The Monkees take his song ‘I’m a Believer’ to #1 in 1966, but four years later he’d land his first #1 as a recording artist with ‘Cracklin’ Rosie.’
The rollicking song about a band of men who find solace in Cracklin’ Rosé wine was inspired by the tale of a Canadian First Nation tribe in which the men significantly outnumbered the women.
Meet Me In Montauk 