Song of the Day #4,768: ‘Wasted’ – Carrie Underwood

‘Wasted’ is the first song on Carrie Underwood’s 2005 debut studio album, Some Hearts. This was the fifth single released from the album and the third to top the country chart.

Released just six months after Underwood won the fourth season of American Idol, Some Hearts was an absolute juggernaut. It became 2006’s best-selling album in any genre, and was the best-selling country album in both 2006 and 2007.

Continue reading

Song of the Day #4,766: ‘Wild Side’ – Normani

I consider Normani’s 2019 ‘Motivation’ possibly the greatest video of all time. As I wrote in a post after first seeing it, it is a “mesmerizing display of grace and athleticism.”

If you choose to read that as code for “Normani is a goddess, and this video depicts her writhing seductively in various states of undress,” that is up to you.

Continue reading

Song of the Day #4,765: ‘Lean On Me’ – Bill Withers

Our final inductee into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame’s 2015 class is the soulful singer-songwriter Bill Withers, who recorded a handful of enduring classics during a career that spanned just 15 years. Withers retired abruptly in 1985 over his frustrations with record executives trying to micromanage his career.

Withers released eight studio albums during that span. His three best-known songs — ‘Ain’t No Sunshine,’ ‘Lean on Me,’ and ‘Lovely Day’ — are the sort of soulful staples people list among their all-time favorites. He also wrote and recorded the yacht rock classic ‘Just the Two Of Us’ with Grover Washington, Jr. on sax.

Continue reading

Song of the Day #4,764: ‘Pride and Joy’ – Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble

I don’t know much about Stevie Ray Vaughan, but the few minutes I spent reading about him and watching him perform in order to write this post made me an instant fan.

Vaughan is credited with leading the blues revival in the 80s, and is considered one of the greatest guitar players of all time by, well, the greatest guitar players of all time.

As such, he’s a no-brainer for the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, and made it in the first time he was nominated, in his sixth year of eligibility.

Continue reading