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Song of the Day #3,945: ‘Edge of Seventeen’ – Stevie Nicks

Our next 2019 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee is Stevie Nicks, who has been eligible as a solo performer since 2006. This was her first nomination. Nicks is already in the Hall of Fame as a member of Fleetwood Mac, who were inducted in 1998. Nicks is the first woman inducted into the Hall of Fame twice, a feat accomplished by 22 men.

As a solo artist, Nicks has released eight studio albums, four of which went platinum and two gold. Her most successful, commercially and critically, was her 1981 solo debut, Bella Donna.

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Song of the Day #3,944: ‘Nasty’ – Janet Jackson

When I first saw Janet Jackson’s name among this year’s Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductees, I thought it was a stretch. Has she really accomplished enough for this kind of accolade?

A little research revealed how hopelessly ill-informed I was about Jackson’s legacy. Turns out she has a résumé every R&B performer would kill for. She has rewritten the record books for dance and R&B music — a genre I have never gotten into, which explains my ignorance in this matter.

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Song of the Day #3,943: ‘Night Game’ – Paul Simon

‘Night Game’ is an odd and borderline silly song from the otherwise great 1975 Paul Simon album Still Crazy After All These Years.

This track recounts a baseball game during which the pitcher drops dead at a pivotal moment. I guess it’s about the triviality of things like sports in the face of mortality, probably as a metaphor for a lot of other things. But the seriousness of the delivery and the dirgelike music just make it kind of funny.

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Song of the Day #3,942: ‘Return to Sender’ – Elvis Presley

‘Return to Sender’ is an Elvis Presley track from the 2002 compilation 30 No. 1 Hits. At least that’s where it lives in my music collection. It was originally released as a single in 1962 and performed in the film Girls! Girls! Girls!, a clip from which is embedded below.

The song made it to only #2 on the U.S. charts but spent three weeks at #1 in the U.K. Indeed, 11 of the #1 hits on the compilation reached that pinnacle only in the U.K.

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Song of the Day #3,941: ‘Pour Some Sugar On Me’ – Def Leppard

Our next 2019 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee is the British hard rock band Def Leppard, who have been eligible for inclusion since 2005. This is the first time they have been up for nomination, which is frankly shocking.

Def Leppard is one of only a handful of bands with more than one Diamond album (more than 10 million copies sold). Their company include the Eagles, The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, and Van Halen, all of whom have been in the Hall for decades. They have sold 36 million albums overall, and every rock band in that ballpark is already in.

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