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Song of the Day #4,035: ‘The Cage’ – Elton John

My overall enjoyment of the movie Rocketman sent me down a bit of an Elton John rabbit hole.

I created a playlist of his most notable albums (particularly those released between 1970 and 1975 plus a couple of entries from the 80s) and listened to them all in order. I wanted to see what I’d been missing, as I’m primarily a fan only through his best-known songs.

After spending a few weeks on the exercise, the simple verdict is that John is primarily a greatest hits artist for me. But not entirely.

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Song of the Day #4,034: ‘Cherish the Day’ – Sade

‘Cherish the Day’ is the fourth Sade song to show up on Random Weekends, and the second in a little more than a month (‘The Sweetest Taboo’ had its day back in June).

This song was the fourth single from Sade’s 1992 album Love Deluxe, which also featured the excellent ‘No Ordinary Love’ and ‘Kiss of Life.’ All of those songs create such a gorgeous, seductive mood.

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Song of the Day #4,033: ‘Losing Hope’ – Jack Johnson

I’ve posted three Jack Johnson songs over the past 11 years. Two were from his 2001 debut album Brushfire Fairytales and the third was ‘Upside Down,’ the great song he wrote for the Curious George movie.

The last Brushfire Fairytales song appeared seven years ago and, like today’s song, showed up on a Random iTunes Weekend. This is the only album I own of his so I guess his odds aren’t great of popping up randomly.

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Song of the Day #4,032: ‘Isis’ – Bob Dylan

A few years ago I made a quick reference to a website called PopSpots, where a man named Bob Egan tracks down and documents the exact locations of album covers.

The PopSpot I referenced was the cover of Billy Joel’s 52nd Street. That was a relatively easy one (the location is right there in the title), but Egan still did a very thorough job of finding the exact location despite 40 years of New York City development.

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Song of the Day #4,031: ‘Birthday Song’ – Carole King

In honor of my mother’s birthday, here is a cheesy but sweet song from Carole King. It appeared on the Deluxe Edition reissue of her 2001 album Love Makes the World, which remains King’s last album of original material.

King turned 77 this year, making her a few years older than my mother (who looks more like 60). I’m happy to have such a talented and accomplished woman delivering today’s tribute to my wonderful mom. Happy Birthday!

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