It’s that time of the year when music critics start dropping their best-of lists and I realize how little I pay attention to new music outside of my own little bubble.
Looking back at the hundreds of albums released so far in 2023, the only ones with which I spent any amount of time were by these artists: Belle & Sebastian, boygenius, Lana Del Rey, Bob Dylan, Ben Folds, Jason Isbell, Olivia Rodrigo, The Rolling Stones, and Paul Simon. That’s not even enough for a top ten.
The week of December 9, 1973, saw the Carpenters atop the Billboard Hot 100 with ‘Top of the World.’ This country pop song spent two week at #1 as part of a ten-week stint on the chart.
This was the second of three career #1s for the duo, though they had five #2 hits between this song and their first chart-topper, ‘(They Long to Be) Close to You.’
Throwing back to the week of December 7, 1963, we find The Singing Nun (Soeur Sourire) at the top of the Billboard Hot 100 with ‘Dominique.’
I wrote about ‘Dominique’ recently when covering the nine songs not in the English language to top this chart.
That brings us to the #2 song that week, which is ‘I’m Leaving It Up To You’ by the duo Dale & Grace.
Eight days ago, I chose today’s album for the final installment of my 1985 Decades series. I’m not sure why I settled on Irish band The Pogues’ sophomore effort, Rum, Sodomy and the Lash, over a half dozen other albums I had on my list, but I did.
I listened to it for most of that afternoon, then sat down in the evening to write today’s post. When I brought up this song on YouTube, I noticed a lot of “RIP” comments about lead singer Shane MacGowan and thought he must have passed away rather young. I checked his bio, and was shocked to discover he had died that very morning.
Early this year, I finished up my Decades look at 1984 by featuring Sade’s debut album Diamond Life. A year later, the band (and the woman it’s named after) returned with Promise, an equally successful follow-up.
I don’t know this album as well as its predecessor. I’m familiar with the hits — ‘Is It a Crime?,’ ‘The Sweetest Taboo,’ and ‘Never as Good as the First TIme’ — and they’re all wonderful. The rest of the album coasts along on a similar jazzy vibe, though the songs don’t measure up to those high points. That wasn’t the case with Diamond Life, which is all bangers, start to finish.
Meet Me In Montauk 