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Song of the Day #5,317: ‘Born Under a Bad Sign’ – Albert King

The next performer inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame’s 2013 class was blues guitarist Albert King. Eligible since 1988, King died in 1992 so didn’t live to see his induction in his first nominated year (he would have to have lived to the ripe old age of 91 to do so).

King was born Albert Nelson, but changed his name to that of another blues legend, B.B. King, so he could pass himself off as the latter’s brother. B.B. King wasn’t crazy about that until he met Albert, saying “I got to know him and realized he was right; he wasn’t my brother in blood, but he sure was my brother in the blues.”

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Song of the Day #5,316: ‘Barracuda’ – Heart

It’s time for the next installment in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame series, wherein I look back at each year’s class of inductees. The next seven posts will cover the Rock Hall Class of 2013.

Our first performer, alphabetically, is Heart. The band, fronted by sisters Ann and Nancy Wilson, first became eligible for Hall of Fame consideration in 2002 but weren’t nominated until 2012. They missed the cut on that ballot but made it a year later.

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Song of the Day #5,315: ‘Speedway’ – Morrissey

‘Speedway’ is the closing track on Morrissey’s 1994 album Vauxhall and I, arguably his finest solo release. My personal fave is 1992’s Your Arsenal but this one is right up there.

Morrissey has released nine more albums since but none of them managed the mix of angst, wit and whimsy quite like this one and its predecessors. I’d argue that any legit fan of Morrissey needs to know everything The Smiths ever did plus those first four solo albums.

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Song of the Day #5,314: ‘She Chose Me’ – Randy Newman

Here’s a track from Randy Newman’s most recent album, 2017’s Dark Matter. The fact that this is the first time a song from the album has appeared on the blog since its release says a lot.

Newman is notoriously slow when it comes to releasing new albums (in part because he spends a lot of time on movie scores). Dark Matter was only his fifth studio album release in the more than four decades following a rather prolific run in the 70s.

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Song of the Day #5,313: ‘Smokin Out the Widow’ – Silk Sonic

Closing out this year-end edition of ‘What the Kids Are Listening To’ takes us to #41, where Silk Sonic has its only appearance on the chart with ‘Smokin Out the Window.’

First comes The Weeknd and Ariana Grande, whose ‘Save Your Tears’ was at #39 in 2023 despite being released way back in 2020. That song has some impressive legs.

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