Song of the Day #2,176: ‘Pure Imagination’ – Fiona Apple

fionaappleMy desert island countdown continues (see Monday’s post for the full explanation).

Have already counted down my top five desert island picks for musical artists, TV series and movie directors, this week I’ll name some honorable mentions.

These picks are presented in no particular order.

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Song of the Day #2,175: ‘Bookends Theme’ – Simon & Garfunkel

bookendsIt’s hard to pick a favorite among Simon & Garfunkel’s five albums — each has is own unique charm. But I could make a strong case for 1968’s Bookends, the duo’s fourth record.

Bookends is half a concept record, with Side One tracing a life from birth to death. Side Two is made up of odds and ends left over from the Graduate soundtrack, including ‘Mrs. Robinson’ and ‘Hazy Shade of Winter.’

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Song of the Day #2,174: ‘I Don’t Want to Lose You’ – The Smithereens

smithereens_especiallyI’m envisioning a future project — a list of bands that produced one excellent album but nothing else that crossed my radar.

This is different from a one-hit wonder because the whole album, not just a single song, has to be great. And it can’t be a group that has a few pretty good albums and one amazing one. This one album has to be the only work of theirs you own.

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Song of the Day #2,173: ‘Mr. Tambourine Man (Live at Newport Folk Festival, 1964)’ – Bob Dylan

dylan4My desert island countdown continues (see Monday’s post for the full explanation).

Desert Island Musical Artists – #1 – Bob Dylan

Dylan was the man when I first became a true music fan, listening to his old LPs on a turntable on the island of my 10th grade bedroom. He’s still the man three decades later.

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Song of the Day #2,172: ‘Less Than Zero’ – Elvis Costello

costello_uselessMy desert island countdown continues (see Monday’s post for the full explanation).

Desert Island Musical Artists – #2 – Elvis Costello

Costello would be a strong candidate if I could bring only one musical artist to my desert island, because his discography has spanned so many genres.

Punk, country, rock, pop, folk, classical, easy listening, jazz, funk — he’s a one-man record store. And I could spend many a moonlit night trying to dig out the meanings in his kaleidoscopic lyrics.

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