I was shocked to discover that I’ve posted 3,808 Songs of the Day without once featuring a song from R.E.M.’s 1987 album Dead Letter Office.
This collection of B-sides, outtakes and loose ends was released between 1986’s Lifes Rich Pageant and 1987’s Document, which made an appearance on Random Weekends exactly one week ago.
In 1974, it was possible for a song as earnestly romantic as ‘I Honestly Love You’ to reach the #1 spot on Billboard’s Hot 100. The most recent similar hit I can find is John Legend’s ‘All of Me,’ which spent some time at #1 in May of 2014.
In ’74, other love songs to reach #1 included ‘The Way We Were,’ ‘Annie’s Song’ and ‘Time in a Bottle.’ This year, Drake has occupied the top spot for 29 of 48 weeks. A different musical world, for better and worse.
‘Finest Worksong’ is the lead-off track on R.E.M.’s fifth studio album, 1987’s Document. It was the third single released, following the hits ‘The One I Love’ and ‘It’s the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine).’
The band released an album per year from 1983 through 1988, including the holy trinity of Reckoning, Fables of the Reconstruction and Life’s Rich Pageant. This record followed those career-defining releases and was a bit of a departure both sonically and thematically.
Sometimes the Random iTunes Fairy reminds me of an artist who had completely slipped my mind. Such is the case with Margo Price, who released an excellent debut album — Midwest Farmer’s Daughter — in 2016.
I played the album a few times and really enjoyed it but then it just fell out of my rotation and I frankly forgot she even existed until today’s random SOTD popped up. This was the first single from the album, and one she played on Saturday Night Live as one of the show’s few country musical guests.
Meet Me In Montauk 