Author Archives

by

Song of the Day #3,166: ‘A Song To Sing’ – Hanson

hanson_get_the_girl_backEvery few years I remind my readers that I have a soft spot for the band Hanson, particularly their 2000 album This Time Around. This time, the Random iTunes Fairy did the honors.

Scoff all you want, but if you haven’t listed to this infectious batch of power pop and melodic ballads, do yourself a favor and give it a try. Lead singer Taylor Hanson, in particular, is a true talent. In 2009, he formed the supergroup Tinted Windows with another wickedly good pop songwriter, Fountains of Wayne’s Adam Schlesinger, and members of Cheap Trick and Smashing Pumpkins.

Continue reading →

by

Song of the Day #3,165: ‘All Along the Watchtower’ – Bob Dylan

john_wesley_hardingWhen the Random Weekend iTunes Fairy offers up a stone-cold classic by an artist I have covered exhaustively, I assume — after 3,164 Songs of the Day — it will be a repeat.

But somehow, despite spending a full year on Bob Dylan Weekends, I have never posted his version of ‘All Along the Watchtower.’

Continue reading →

by

Song of the Day #3,164: ‘Spirit Voices’ – Paul Simon

rhythm_of_the_saintsAs I wrote at the beginning of the week, I had a hard time coming up with five 1990 albums for this list. But I had no problem coming up with my #1, Paul Simon’s The Rhythm of the Saints.

Following up the all-time classic Graceland four years later was no easy task, but Simon delivered, creating an album that similarly married world music with his plaintive melodies.

Continue reading →

by

Song of the Day #3,163: ‘You Cause As Much Sorrow’ – Sinead O’Connor

sinead_oconnor_do_not_wantMy second favorite album of 1990 is Sinead O’Connor’s sophomore release, the worldwide smash I Do Not Want What I Haven’t Got. This was O’Connor’s second album, following the fierce The Lion and the Cobra, but the first impression many of us had of this remarkable talent.

Who can forget that impossibly beautiful porcelain face and bald head singing ‘Nothing Compares 2 U’ against a black background on MTV?

Continue reading →

by

Song of the Day #3,162: ‘Waiting For That Day’ – George Michael

george_michael_listen_prejudiceMy #3 album of 1990 is Listen Without Prejudice Vol. 1, the second solo album by the late George Michael.

Three years earlier, Michael scored a massive hit with the pop classic Faith, an extremely difficult act to follow. Listen Without Prejudice sold only a third as many copies as its predecessor and received mixed to positive reviews, but for my money it’s just as strong an album.

Continue reading →