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Song of the Day #5,938: ‘Wranglers’ – Miranda Lambert

This has been a great year for new releases, specifically by women. Back in June, I did a countdown of my eight favorite new albums by the ‘Ladies of 2024,’ and that was before Sabrina Carpenter dropped the great Short n’ Sweet.

But as good as the year has been, it might have saved the best for last — albums by my two current favorite artists, Miranda Lambert and Lana Del Rey. I say “might” because Del Rey’s promised album doesn’t have a release date yet (and maybe it won’t be any good, though I doubt that).

As for Lambert, her ninth solo studio album, Postcards from Texas, came out last month and is every bit as good as I’d hoped.

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Song of the Day #5,937: ‘Oh, Pretty Woman’ – Roy Orbison and The Candy Men

In the first week of October, 1864, Roy Orbison had his second (and final) #1 hit with the song most associated with him: ‘Oh, Pretty Woman.’

This was long before Van Halen has a Top 20 hit with the track in 1982, and even longer before Julia Roberts became a household name starring in a movie of the same name in 1990.

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Song of the Day #5,936: ‘I Need You Now’ – Eddie Fisher

Throwing back to the week of October 2, 1954, we have two repeats atop the Billboard chart in Rosemary Clooney’s ‘Hey There’ and the Crew Cuts’ ‘Sh-Boom.‘ Those two songs dominated the summer and fall of 1954, with one or the other sitting at #1 for 13 straight weeks.

Right behind them on this week was Eddie Fisher with ‘I Need You Now,’ a song that would eventually make it to #1 for three weeks that November. This was Fisher’s fourth #1 in two years and his second in 1954 (following ‘Oh! My Pa-Pa’).

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Song of the Day #5,935: ‘We Run This’ – Missy Elliott

Concluding my look at the albums of 2005…

I’m wrapping up my look at 2005 with one of the year’s best rap albums. No, not Kanye West’s Late Registration, which is indeed a great album but one by an artist I’d rather not give the airtime.

Instead, I’m featuring The Cookbook, the last full-length studio release by Missy Elliott. This was Elliott’s sixth album and, according to many critics, her best.

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Song of the Day #5,934: ‘Feel Good Inc.’ – Gorillaz

Continuing my look at the albums of 2005…

Yesterday I wrote about an album that just isn’t for me. Today’s album falls into another category: one that may well be for me, but I don’t see myself ever taking the time to find out.

As I get older and have more albums to hear from the artists I already love, I find it increasingly harder to add new finds to the mix. That goes for current releases but especially for releases from years past. I’ve finally come to peace with the idea that I’ll die having not heard plenty of great music.

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