5 January 2021 - Salt - Bluster

Nino Ramsby fronted the Swedish group Salt in the 1990s.  Back then, he was Nina Rambsy, but in 2015, he came out as a transgender man - something he had privately and internally identified as for years.  

None of that matters to the music, which is amazing.  I just wish we had heard more from Salt - this song hit US shores in 1996, and they were broken up a year later.  Ramsby is still a star in Sweden and still making music - his last few albums have been less grunge and more jazz.

At any rate, enjoy this gem.  

4 January 2021 - Ashlee Simpson - Outta My Head (Ay Ya Ya)

On a cold day nine years ago, my friend Scott and I were talking about music.  We were DJs at a little radio station called WSBU in the early to mid 1990s, and we shared a love of alternative music at the time.  We were a couple of old punks.   

On this day, we'd find out we shared a love of Ashlee Simpson and other fun poppy music.  And so, I started a blog, with this post - an Ashlee Simpson song.   In fact, this is exactly what I said:

Let's open up this blog with one of the guiltiest pleasure songs ever performed.  It's hard to be bad-ass in argyle, but Ashlee Simpson tries, and pulls it off to some extent.   It's really hard to say "Ashlee Simpson" and "bad-ass" in the same sentence while keeping a straight face.

That was the whole post, people.  I also made this questionable font and design choice for this blog - but in nine years, I haven't bothered to change that.  

I hope 2021 brings us some new Ashlee music, but for now, enjoy her 2007 single that was a chart disappointment but is still entertaining and pokes fun at some of the scandals that plagued Ashlee throughout her career.  

1 January 2021 - The Primitives - Sick of It

OK, enough positive.  Let's pull out an angry song that speaks PRECISELY to how we feel about 2020.

It's over now.  So enjoy a little nihilism and one of my favorite songs by one of my favorite bands - who are also really really nice.  

31 December 2020 - David Bowie - Heroes

At this point, I'm sure you've heard this song a lot this year.  This can be the last time, if you want.  But it seemed fitting, in a year when we've needed everyday heroes, in a year without a superhero movie, this song seems to provide an appropriate coda.   

Or you can go to Totally Covered and check out the "Heroes" special.

Not really a hit in 1977, when it was released, it DID become a worldwide hit on its posthumous rerelease in 2016.   It is seen as an inspiration for the reunification of Germany - that's how powerful a song this is.  His June 1987 performance in Berlin, featuring this song broadcast to both sides of the Berlin Wall, is seen as an early catalyst for these unification efforts, as music lovers on both sides of the wall enjoyed the concert live, together.  

I was lucky enough to see David Bowie perform this song live in 1991, on what he billed as a farewell tour to his old songs (of course, it wasn't - those songs were amazing).  Here he is in 1987 - the same tour as the one in Berlin (although not his Berlin performance).  

30 December 2020 - Cocteau Twins - Iceblink Luck

I know a lot of people think the Cocteau Twins sound dour and sad.  This is not a sad or dour song.  It's quite chipper. This song achieved something no other Cocteau Twins song had prior - UK radio airplay.  It cracked their Top 40 - and got some significant alternative play stateside.  

This song, the single on their decidedly more upbeat than past releases Heaven or Las Vegas, didn't happen by accident.  Elizabeth Fraser is happy... mostly because she was a mother.  This song is likely about her daughter, Lucy-Belle, who she had in 1989 with fellow Cocteau Twin Robin Guthrie.  

29 December 2002 - Incubus - Drive

"Whatever tomorrow brings, I'll be there."

Has a more positive line ever been written in music?

(The answer is, yes. "I can't outshine your radiance or undermine your silliness."  But still.)  

This song was a breakthrough and crossover hit for Incubus, even making the POP top 10, which was an achievement for the rock/hip-hop fusion band.  But great, motivational songs tend to be inspirational, no matter the genre.  

28 December 2020 - Kool & The Gang - Celebration

I'm going to tell you something about this great song, the only #1 hit for Kool & the Gang, and one of the biggest hits of 1981 and every roller rink since.

This song is a religious song.

That's right.  The celebration they speak of was inspired by a Quranic sura.... but a story Christians know well, and that is the one of the creation of Adam.  A mild irony here - when the hostages held in Iran returned home in February`1981, this song was the one chosen to be played for them. 

I think they made a great choice.  It's a happy and celebratory song, even if you miss the religious overtones.