Tomorrow marks the first day of Spring. And more important, today marks the first day of Spring Break for my wife and kids.
I’m taking the week off as well, both from work and Meet Me in Montauk. In place of actual blog posts this week I will post five songs about (or at least containing the word) spring.
Kicking things off is Ol’ Blue Eyes himself, Frank Sinatra.
A year and a half ago, I posted my first Jackson Browne song on the blog in response to a commenter’s repeated outrage that I’d posted plenty of songs by artists he deemed less worthy than Mr. Browne without ever giving Jackson his due.
Today, thanks to Random Weekends, I’m posting my second Jackson Browne song. Listening to the track, I’m struck by how easy he is to listen to… he has a wonderful voice and a smooth, laid-back style. I like Browne a lot better than The Eagles and their ilk, even though I’m sure he’d be classified as their ilk (in fact Don Henley sings backup on today’s SOTD).
So apparently the little people who live in my iTunes and select the random playlist have a sense of humor.
Just last week, frequent commenter Amy delighted in the selection by the “iPod fairy” of several country tunes during Random Weekends and predicted “I don’t think Bob Dylan is showing up anytime soon!”
I guess the iPod fairy showed her.
I’ll admit, it was a bit of a struggle to come up with ten bands for a 90s countdown. The decade pales in comparison to its predecessors, whether it’s the British explosion of the 60s, the singer-songwriter movement of the 70s or the New Wave cool of the 80s.
The defining sound of the 90s — grunge — is almost by definition unpleasant to the ear. It’s often more about attitude than sound.
If I had to pick one album that best captures my musical memory of the 90s, it may well be Gin Blossoms’ New Miserable Experience. Released in 1992, the year I met my wife-to-be, it (along with a few others on this list) formed the soundtrack of that summer and fall.
