In the early 1980s, the hardcore scene in Washington D.C. was exploding, and one of its leaders was Ian MacKaye, the frontman and principal songwriter for the band Minor Threat (and later, Fugazi and other bands) - formed from the ashes of his band the Teen Idles.
He also founded a great DIY record label that ended up being extremely influential - Dischord Records - on which his bands were releasing material that would end up selling exceedingly well.
One thing that MacKaye espoused as one of his philosophies was abstinence from drugs of any kind - and that wasn't unique to him, as the movement existed in the punk scene already. However, that movement didn't have a name.
Then MacKaye gave it a name. "Straight Edge" to this day refers to that way of life.
It wasn't that live version that I blasted every time my pothead neighbors were blasting Pink Floyd, though.
Daniel Johnston is very likely a name you do not know. His origins were in the great state of West Virginia - and started making lo-fi music there in his teens. He bounced in and out of institutions, and was diagnosed with bipolar disorder.
That didn't stop his musical output.
Most of his musical catalogue was made up of homemade cassettes that he recorded on his organ in his home in New Cumberland, West Virginia. This song - from his 1983 cassette Hi, How Are You, is one of his best known songs, with many other artists covering the song. Written and produced by Johnston in its original form, it was inspired by a Blue Bell ice cream container.
This version is live, a couple of years before Johnston's death (of a heart attack) in 2019, performed with Jeff Tweedy of Wilco. Released as part of the Hi, How Are You project for mental health awareness, it's an absolutely beautiful performance.
His music brought him around the world - and his music just couldn't help but break out of his body. Here he is in Argentina in 2013.
It sounds different in its original 1983 version, which features his organ.
Grace Potter is from Vermont, and she formed her band in Vermont in 2002. The band broke up in 2015, not coincidentally the same time Potter's marriage to the band's drummer broke up.
Today's song is from their 2010 self-titled third album. She was already a rock star of Robert Pollard dimensions (you'll understand that reference on Monday if you don't now), and this song, which became an adult contemporary hit and got some radio airplay, cemented that.
Also, it's a fun, fun song.
Normally, I would go here and do a traditional live performance....
and not one they recorded in a San Diego hotel room.
But here we are.
And, unlike most unplugged performances, it may just come harder than the original electrified version.
James Brown may have made his money in Atlanta, but he was born into poverty in South Carolina.
This song, written by Brown and Betty Jean Newsome, was recorded in New York City in 1966 and became a huge R&B AND Pop hit in the US a year later. It is a slow, brooding, soulful tune. Is it a little chauvinistic? It sure is, but I bet Brown didn't think it was, because he was trying to convey that a man needs a woman, or a girl.
It would become one of his signature songs.
You might note that the single is short.
His live versions were decidedly not. In fact, the brooding and jazzy nature of the tune lent itself well to extended versions of the song. And, here he is, in 1981, singing the hell out of it live.
Here he is, later in life, performing the song with an orchestra and Luciano Pavarotti.
I'd just like to point out that, at this point in their lives, both men were battling health issues, and still sang the hell out of this song.
By the way, the other possible Kentucky artist is almost inarguably the best-known artist from Kentucky - Loretta Lynn.
The coal miner's daughter was never one to shy away from social issues - like the social liberation given to women with the birth control pill, and divorce.
She was also not shy to threaten a beatdown on a woman trying to steal her man. This rather forward song - written by Lynn - was her second number one hit, in 1968.
You know she performed the hell out of this song every time. Look how cheerful she looks while she threatens to kick someone's ass.
It wasn't impossible to not do a country artist when it came to Kentucky.
The reality was, it came down to two choices for me. Sturgill Simpson was my first choice here - he's an innovator in the world of country, making music that teeters on rock fusion, while still sounding fresh and at the same time classic.
This was his first video, recorded in 2013 as a single from his debut album, High Top Mountain, which is excellent. There are a lot of trains in this video, needless to say.
All these years later, he still performs this early song, like he did in 2024....
...but perhaps his best-known performance of the song happened in 2016, at Farm Aid.
Don't @ me with the "she was born in Switzerland" bullshit. She grew up in Nashville.
"M" was the 2nd single from her latest full-length album Evergreen, which was my favorite album of 2024. I had the pleasure of sitting through a pre-release listening party from her Evergreen (stripped) EP that featured pared-down versions of several songs from the album, including this one. I don't remember her exact phrasing (I didn't know I was doing this at the time) but when asked what her favorite song from Evergreen was, she chose this song.
Anyway, that was a great experience. I would absolutely do it again.
This is not the stripped version. It is a great song from a great album.
This IS the stripped version. I love the strings in this version, which is the one I actually prefer.
This is neither the stripped nor the not-stripped version. This is Sophie with a guitar and her voice at the SiriusXM studios.
So, you know I dislike these Special Editions, because it means a musician has died, and, in this case, D'Angelo did, in fact, perish - pancreatic cancer. That death was announced yesterday....
...and yet I dragged my heels until today, because, yes, D'Angelo happens to have been born and raised in Richmond, VA, so, well, waiting a day made sense in this case.
His death is terribly sad, and he will be missed, but because of that, you get to relish this Grammy-award winning song, co-written by D'Angelo and longtime collaborator Raphael Saddiq. The soulful ballad also ended up being one of his biggest hits.
For as long as he kept performing, D'Angelo didn't forget this song. His live performance was soulful, and the crowd loves it.
Today, you probably guessed what state was represented today.
You would be wrong.
Eddie From Ohio are a folk group from Alexandria, Virginia. It is so named after Eddie Hartness.... but he's also not from Ohio. Ed fROMOHIO is a real person - Ed Crawford, from the California group fIREHOSE - and the person who gave Eddie Hartness that nickname - who was his girlfriend at the time - was clearly a fan.
They meant to change the name of the band, but they're more than three decades in, so it's a little late for that. Although the band stopped performing in 2022, they remain popular.
And yes, they have played in Ohio, but they spend most of their time in Virginia, outside of the control of major labels - and they've had some success.
This particular song was written by vocalist Julie Murphy Wells, and is a fan favorite. Can you blame the fans, though? It's beautiful.
I seriously debated whether or not to use this John Hiatt classic song that Mandy Moore covered.
What I did NOT debate was that Mandy Moore - singer, actress, superstar - was ABSOLUTELY representing New Hampshire, as she hails from Nashua, which, yes, I know, is BARELY in New Hampshire. But it is. Haven of tax free shopping for Massachusetts residents. Heck, the Pheasant Lane Mall straddles the border (you can park in Tyngsboro and shop in Nashua).
Yeah. I've been.
But also, Mandy Moore's version of John Hiatt's heartfelt classic didn't have a huge chart impact, but did get some US pop radio airplay. Her voice is very much the equal to the material, and I'm glad she covered it.
And I'm glad I chose this song.
Today, it seems like this blog has come full circle. Post #8 on this blog was written by Scott, my former co-writer, and what he shared was Mandy Moore doing an XTC cover. That post led directly to the creation of Totally Covered, a blog that I don't post as much stuff on anymore. (Don't look for today's song over there, by the way - it's embarrassing that it was posted TWICE there as well - which is a large part of the reason I posted this here today).
Anyway, the video Scott used was from a Sessions@AOL recording, and today's live recording is from the very same session.
And yep. Addison Rae (Easterling. It's her real name) is from Lafayette, Louisiana. She turned 25 last Monday. She started off as a social media content creator, so when she started making music, no one expected much.
What they got (eventually. This wasn't her first single but it was a breakthrough) was a song - co-written by the artist and producers Luka Kloser and Elvira Anderfjärd - called "Backseat" - until, and this is true, Charli XCX heard it and thought "Diet Pepsi" was a better title.
The song got a lot of high year-end rankings - Pitchfork named it the 13th best song of the year; The New York Times put it 4th on their list; Dazed ranked it #1 - and for good reason. This song is cool and mature and the vocals are reminiscent of a younger Lana Del Rey.
Even Lana Del Rey hears it.
But, also, I know what you're thinking - "she's a social media influencer. This is manufactured pop and her voice is super enhanced."
Well, that's where you're wrong, bucko - she performed the song live and stripped down in August of this year at the Grammy Museum in Mississippi. The woman has pipes!!!
(Edit: 23 October 2025): I somehow missed her very recent Tonight Show performance, featuring perhaps the greatest use of the desk by a musical guest ever.
Taylor Swift was born in West Reading, PA, and spent a large part of her childhood in Montgomery and Berks Counties. So yeah, Pennsylvania has a fair claim to the future Ms. Kelce.
And also, Ms. Swift released a new album last Friday called The Life Of A Showgirl, along with an accompanying movie that was the biggest movie at the box office last week. Included as part of the release party movie was this video, the first from the album, as well as some behind-the-scenes footage.
No. I did not see it.
But this song - destined as of this writing to knock "Golden" off the top of the US charts - is very much about her relationship with Travis Kelce, comparing herself to the tragic character of Ophelia in Shakespeare's Hamlet - her grief and loneliness led directly to her suicide.
Is it heavy-handed? A little. But also, it's a great song. And the video is straight fire.
Pennsylvania might have been the most difficult state to make a choice of artist.
Why did I choose Live, one of the ironically worst live bands I've ever seen?
Because I know they had an off night. Everyone has that.
But also, this single - which is one of my favorite by the band - was their first as Live - they had previously been known as Physical Affection and were a popular local band in York, PA, and the surrounding area. From the album Mental Jewelry, released on December 31, 1991, it was a 1992 MTV hit.
If your band's name is Live, you better not suck live.
And on most nights, they did not.
Woodstock '99 sucked in general, so they were actually a bright spot there.
His backing band is not really just the Destroyers.
They are the Delaware Destroyers.
And indeed, born in Wilmington, Delaware in 1950, Thorogood is still touring as of this writing - which is pretty impressive. His original songs and gravelly voice blend nicely with the American music landscape.
This 1985 rock radio hit - his biggest to that date, although he'd have bigger later - was originally written by Thorogood as a country song for George Jones, but EMI insisted that the Delaware Destroyers record it as a rock song.... and it paid off huge. It remains a live staple to this day, forty years later.
I mentioned that it remained a live staple to this day.
That's because it is. This recording is from last month, in Albany, NY. And he still sounds truly great.
A lot of people assume that I don't like Bon Jovi.
This is NOT true. The first album by the New Jersey icons is actually a pretty solid pop/metal classic. And this song - one of the singles from that album - is the first song I heard by them. Written by Jon Bongiovi (yep. I used his Christian name), it was a Hot 100 hit in 1985.
And yes, they were destined to be much bigger.
Is this a song they still play? Not sure about that, but they sure did in 1986. Again, they were pop/rock, not metal, and as soon as you come to that conclusion, this is a solid song.
The Northern Mariana Islands was always going to be the hardest day for me.
You see, not a lot of popular music has come from there.
Thankfully, we had American Song Contest, and the 670 had a representative in Sabyu, who had moved to the 206 from the 670 - 20-6-70.... get it? - with Chief Javi, and together they performed love letters to their home island of Saipan.
I'd do a live version of this song, but c'mon - this is already live. And pretty fun.
Because Pia Mia was clearly the only artist I could choose, and I have been wanting to post about this real outlier of a single of hers.
She was discovered by Babyface on YouTube.... who helped her get a real record deal and even a hot 100 hit.
What she lost was her creative control, so she left Interscope Records and started self-releasing music. This song was less hip-hop and more country.... and I gotta say, it suits her. Her voice is huge.
When I say her voice is huge, perhaps it's better if I feature a live version of the song....
And R. City are from there, hailing from St. Thomas. Sure, they do record in Atlanta, but they are from the USVI.
I think that's pretty cool.
This song is by far their biggest hit, hitting the top 10 in the US and worldwide. Toni Tennille gets a songwriting credit because the chord progression in the chorus is straight out of 'Do That To Me One More Time", no joke.
Anyway, the song itself was NOT written by Adam Levine, so that's something.
They also don't need Adam Levine around to perform the song - which the duo co-wrote as well. In fact, I think it flows better without him and retains more of a reggae flair.
I have been holding this song back for a long while. I go back and forth on it, honestly. I don't always love the song, but I always like it. And, as I write this, I am in a love period.
Tori Amos grew up in Baltimore, and since today is Maryland day, I felt it was time to uncork it.
This was one of Amos's biggest hits - a breakthrough of sorts in the UK. She had bigger pop hits but no song did better on alternative radio.
And it's about.... cornflakes? No, "cornflake girl" is slang for someone close to you who betrays you - specifically used around the practice of female genital mutilation. And now you know.
The song itself is something of an upbeat waltz and you're going to be tapping your toes to this song for the rest of the day. You're welcome.
And she made two videos for the song - her insistence. She WANTED two DIFFERENT videos. The US version featured Amos driving a truck full of women.
The UK version is much better. It's kind of a reverse Wizard of Oz situation where Dorothy goes to hell.
Not shockingly, her 1997 performances of the song live sounded just like the record. Well, not identical. It's a little different. But the flair and sound are still there.
And, kind of shockingly, the 2015 performances also sound like the record, but with glasses.
She actually seems to perform it with more personality here.
She does still perform, by the way. Here she is in 2023, still sounding incredible.
At this point, both Tanya Donelly and Fred Abong had left the band, leaving only Kristin Hersh (Tanya's stepsister.... or half sister. It's never actually been clear to me. But they are sisters) and David Narcizo, both of whom you see in this video. (Leslie Langston, their original bassist, did return to do some bass work).
What resulted is arguably the worst reviewed Throwing Muses album - Red Heaven. This is not me saying this (and, truth be told, Allmusic tells me it's Hunkpapa which I love but I understand the bad reviews). I think Red Heaven is a revelation and I'd rank it 2rd in my list of their albums (House Tornado being inarguably better).
Go ahead. Debate me in the comments.
The band released two different versions of this single, and I own them both somewhere. Or I lost them in a past move. I don't know. Anyway, it's a fun song that is probably as close as they came to a pop hit.
I think it would be really intimidating to meet Kristin Hersh in reality. I had the chance to in 1995, and I regret not doing it because I found it quite intimidating.
But if you watch the interview and the intense solo performance of the song, you might understand where I'm coming from. It's intense, and as someone who has seen Throwing Muses live twice and will do so a third time if given the opportunity, yeah. She's intense.
Yeah. This is gonna be a two post day. Sorry. But I couldn't choose between two sisters again.
Belly is a fully, 100% Rhode Island band. The four original members went to high school together in Newport, Rhode Island. And, well, they had some degree of success in the 1990s after leader (and my favorite doula) Tanya Donelly's stints in Throwing Muses (more on that in the second post) and the Breeders (more on THEM later this month, probably).
In fact, the debut album by Belly was supposed to be The Breeders's second album. Early demos of Star are clearly labelled "The Breeders". Tanya went in a different direction, and this song wasn't included in those demos - which may explain its unique sound.
To be clear, by all indications I have seen, Tanya didn't get kicked out of either previous band. She left both to focus on Belly of her own accord.
Although Fred Abong - also ex-Muses - was the bassist when the song was recorded (and therefore, his is the bass you hear), he had left the band soon after the release of Star and was replaced by Gail Greenwood by the time this video was made. That's her playing bass in the video. Thankfully, Greenwood is also from Rhode Island, although she had relocated to Boston when she was recruited.
By the way, Belly did break up.... but they got back together in the mid-2010's. Here they are - the Gorman brothers, Donelly and Greenwood - performing this song in the KEXP studios in 2018.
Lest you think I'm lying about them being back together, this is them in 2024.
I want you to focus not on Tanya - who is wonderful but please. I've said enough - but on Gail Greenwood. She brings JUST as much energy as she did in the 1990s.
And, yes, I know. The Lonely Island are from California, largely. But we're not here to talk about them today.
We're talking about Michael Bolton, and, while I find most of his music to be dreck, this collaboration he did with The Lonely Island is absolutely fantastic.
He did not, however, write the sexy hook. In fact, it took the group some doing - and eliminating most of the profanities (the Scarface reference near the end couldn't be sanitized). But what came out was a classic weirdly big hit song.
And by the way, a lot of it was recorded using Skype. No word on whether or not he was in Westport when he recorded it, but that's where he lives to this day.
Of course, Michael Bolton isn't known for his club bangers. He's known for piano-driven ballads, and yeah, he does a solo version of the song.
It kinda works.
But it almost works better live, with all of them together. Yeah, it's the first part of an Emmy medley, but still. It's incredible. How did Michael Bolton make such a quick change?
Massachusetts? Probably the easiest choice of the whole list. You see, I grew up in a town called Enfield, CT.... which is right on the Massachusetts border. I grew up going to concerts in Northampton and Springfield.... throughout the Pioneer Valley.
And in the valley full of pioneer, a band formed in the 1980s called the Pixies. And I heard them and enjoyed their music. This was the first song of theirs I heard - it was fuzzy and noisy and weird and deep.
I have been lucky enough to see the Pixies live. I saw them in 1991 in Springfield, MA, in a pretty large music hall.
This performance was from the same tour, and it's pretty much exactly as I remember it sounding.
Even though Kim Deal left to be a full-time Breeder, the Pixies are still around and still touring, and of course they still perform this song.
And it still sounds just as dark and noisy and weird and great as it always has.
Maine was one of the hardest states for me to do. Not a lot of nationally famous musicians have come from Maine.
Patty Griffin is the anomaly - hailing from Old Town, ME - who has made a name for herself as an excellent folk and gospel singer. This song is from her 2010 Grammy Award-winning album Downtown Church, and it was literally recorded in a downtown Nashville church. Written by Griffin, it is an absolutely beautiful song, and no, you don't have to be a believer to believe this song is excellent.
Despite not being the most popular artist, Griffin is held in high regard and is seen as influential. Here she is on Austin City Limits performing this song with the legendary Emmylou Harris.
So yeah. Here's a second band from New York NOT from New York City.
Saratoga Springs, in fact. OK, fine, Greenwich, which is closer to Glens Falls - but trust me, they're all close together.
I have had the opportunity to see Phantogram live, and they were spectacular. That was on their tour supporting their third album, Three, which this song opens. That album catered to rock radio a lot more than their other work has, so it has a slightly harder edge, which works.
All these years later, they still perform this song live, as they did last month in Rochester. They still sound amazing performing it.
Joywave are from Rochester, NY, the city I lived in for a quarter century. I don't live their anymore, but that doesn't mean I don't love Joywave.
And there was no fucking way I was featuring a band from New York City. Fuck that. Just, no.
This song, from the band's debut album How Do You Feel Now?, is one that they often use to end their shows...... and they frequently play it twice in a row. It, and not "Dangerous", is absolutely their signature song. The song is scary and in-your-face - by design. That's how it's supposed to sound.
It received a lot of modern rock radio airplay, and is just a great song.
I mention they frequently play this song twice in a row during their sets.
In this particular set, they played it SEVEN times. In the band's words:
On June 21st, 2018 at 6:30 PM Joywave took the stage at PNC Bank Arts Center (now known as The Joywave Center For Performing Arts) in Holmdel, NJ. Dozens of fans were packed into the 17,500 capacity shed, eagerly awaiting the evening’s headline performers. As the band walked out on stage to roars of silence, one devilishly clever audience member suggested the band perform “Free Bird” that evening. But with roughly 17,400 seats reverberating his request throughout the Greater Holmdel area, it was a bit difficult to hear. The following video is an uninterrupted feed of 6:30 PM -7:00 PM ET on that fateful day. A simpler time. The power. The musicianship. The Destruction of Holmdel, NJ. Enjoy.
Yeah. I listened to all of them. They're all solid. The crowd, however, was a little pissed.
Yes, I on purpose used a really obscure way to put these in order, mostly because I wanted to reliably mix in the territories and not put them all in date of admission or acquisition, because that's a boring list.
Which is why New Mexico is 3rd, and that brings us Beirut. Despite their Santa Fe roots and Middle Eastern name (yes, they are named after the Lebanese city), their sound is a lot more Balkan than Dessert Southwest. And by "their" sound, I mean his - it is largely the brainchild of Zach Condon, although he clearly has a lot of support in his efforts. The world music feel is one that has been met with pretty widespread critical acclaim....
.... and this sound is a bit leaning on the side of cacophony, and yet, still seems melodic. Please, enjoy this American music.
Now, listen to the live version of this song. I believe that Condon's voice comes through a lot stronger, and the cacophony feeling is much reduced.
All in all, this is a great song with a lot of horns.
Y'all were expecting reverse order of admittance into the Union, weren't you?
Nope.
Today is Puerto Rico's day to shine.
And, for today, I decided to go with Circo. They are in that category of "best band you've never heard" DESPITE their multiple Latin Grammy nominations.
Anyway, they rock. And you should have been listening to them already. But we're giving you the opportunity to do so now.
Happy Autumn! Today is the Autumnal Equinox in the Northern Hemisphere.
If you're in the Southern Hemisphere, Happy Spring, but I'm not making two hashtags.
Anyway, I wanted to do something special this autumn - and that is feature artists from the United States, one state and territory at a time. Because yes, I am including territories.
#AmericanAutumn
I did choose a non-logical order that I will probably reveal at some point, but for now, we start with the most logical beginning, Hawaii, or, if you prefer, Hawai'i. The state consists of all but one of the islands of the Hawai'ian Archipelago (Midway Atoll is outside the state), and is a volcanic state.
Poi Dog Pondering, a bunch of street musicians from Honolulu, with a mi of modern and traditional instruments, are the perfect representatives of the state. Starting as a solo project of Frank Orrall, the lineup grows and shrinks, currently sitting at about 17 members.
This song was from the band's 1989 self-titled debut album and introduced the Hawai'ian sound to the rest of the world.
I mentioned their lineup grows and shrinks. Because it does.
Here they are in 2021, in New York City, performing their 1989 song. And sounding different and great and neat.
Next week is Courtney's birthday - she and I have been together for a bit more than three years. I already have a post scheduled for her birthday.... because on Monday, I'm starting a thing on this blog that's going to run for a couple of months. Frankly, this post was previously scheduled for November 13th as part of that, before I moved it here.
And also, we're at the ocean now.
And, as I was watching some of my sister Dawn's concert videos, I played a video of this song that they performed this year, and Courtney, who is present for the writing of most of these posts, remarked - and really, reminded me - that it is one of her favorite songs.
I have to admit, I did not always like or appreciate this song. I liked other stuff of theirs a bit more. But this song has grown on me. It's a sweet song, with great harmonies. And singer Glen Phillips, who wrote the lyrics to the song (bandmate Todd Nichols largely did the music) wrote these lyrics as a placeholder as he was whale watching with his family.... and couldn't come up with anything he liked better.
So yeah, that's how a hit song is written.
Remember when I said my sister saw them live and I was watching that video?
Here's the video I was watching. And although the song is in a lower key now, it still sounds great.
This song was/is a TikTok trend. I put it like that because I know you come back to read my stuff years later.
From a pop chart standpoint, this barely registered in the US (#96 on the Hot 100), but that hardly matters, does it?
The video explores the negative impact of drugs - which seems like an 80's thing to do - and the song samples heavily from "Dark and Long" by The Underworld - which seems like a 90's thing to do. It's all combined to make something cute and fun and modern.
I know it's weird that a DJ would perform live (and SING), but here ya go. Glastonbury is weird, man. But also, the crowd loves it and she puts on a great show.
OK, but anyone with a little stage presence can do a huge stage show. What about an NPR Tiny Desk Concert?
Yep. And it is amazing and fun (as is the whole concert. Watch the rest, too!)
Last night, the Polaris Music Prize was awarded. It's a Canadian prize, loosely based on the UK's Mercury Prize, honoring the best in Canadian music over the last year. Traditionally, they've awarded a prize (occasionally 2) to the best Canadian album of the past year. This year, they also awarded a single prize.
The album prize this year went to the Yves Jarvis album All Cylinders. It's very reminiscent of CSNY, and yes, I made sure I added Neil Young for the Canadian artist, with a hint of disco. This single from the album is one of my favorites.
I think watching him perform it live and seeing how he builds the song in front of the audience is a sight to see, and you should see it too.
This early single by the Cardigans was the first thing I ever heard by the band. I knew there were great things to come, but no one could have predicted how great.
It is a sweet and basic love song. That's all you need to know.
Except there's a lot more to say.
This very sweet song begging for love is practically a prequel to "Lovefool". Basically, it's about a girl who wants to go to a carnival with a boy but doesn't because the boy does not ask her. The first single from their second album, Life, it was their first UK hit. Which is why I chose a live performance from the UK.
Is Peruvian-Ohian Isabela Merced an actress - who was recently featured as Hawkgirl in the new Superman movie and who also made an appearance in a Marvel-adjacent movie we shall not mention (ok, it was Madame Web) - or is she a musician?
Why not both? This is her debut single, from 2019, and it is a Latin-tingled pop masterpiece, a modern Spanglish classic.
But also, she was the first live action Dora the Explorer.
But also, this is a great song.
This song was from 2019, just before the pandemic, and so, when trying to promote the song, quarantine got in the way.
So she did an at-home concert which was, no lie, pretty cool.
She did manage to sneak in a few performances pre-lockdown, including this one in San Francisco on March 5, 2020.
In the late 1980s and early 1990s, the 4AD label roster was a tight-knit group.
Kurt Ralske was a New York City-based guitarist who started a band that made compelling alt-pop music. That band was mostly him, and called Ultra Vivid Scene.
Kim Deal was a Dayton, Ohio-based bassist who started a band with a bunch of people from Massachusetts called the Pixies and then another band with someone from Rhode Island called the Breeders and then moved back to Dayton to do the band with her sister.
All of these bands were signed to 4AD Records (including the former AND future bands of the someone from Rhode Island) and, well, it was natural that they'd work together. From the Ultra Vivid Scene album Joy 1967-1990, reflecting Ralske's birth year and the year the album was released, the song is just a sweet pop love ditty, simply constructed, with Deal contributing vocals.
UVS wouldn't be around much longer, but this flash in the sun is a song that should be remembered fondly.
In 1985, a group from Philadelphia called The Hooters had a song they wrote called "All You Zombies" become a pretty minor hit. It was a great pop-rock song with a video tailor-made for MTV.
Of course, they originally recorded it in 1981 and performed it live an awful lot before they were a national hit. Here they are on Delaware television.
It's a little different, but you can tell - it's the same song.
They're still performing the song together - and Eric Bazillian and Rob Hyman are still the core of this band. Here they are in 2023, in Germany, sounding as strong as ever.
Cyndi Lauper rose to fame in the 1980s with this energetic song that's all about girl power.... that was written and originally performed by a man, Robert Hazard, who wrote and performed the song from the male perspective.
Lauper flipped the script, upped the poppiness, recruited The Hooters for her backing band, and a classic was born.
Oh, and that's really her mom.
A decade later, when it was time for that greatest hits albums, Lauper rerecorded the song with a reggae flair. Was it as good? No. Was it different? Yep.
Yep, this is part of Dawn's concert series. She sure did see Cyndi Lauper in Toronto. And this is probably Lauper's last tour, so this is one of her last live performances of the song.
Mitski was born in Japan to an American father and a Japanese mother and is really a citizen of the world.
She lives in Nashville now. But I don't know that I'd call her Tenneseean.
Anyway, this 2018 song, from her album Be The Cowboy, is one of her best known - never released as a single but charted overseas anyway. It's kind of a weird ballad about.... well, a washing machine? Domestic bliss? The exact opposite of domestic bliss? At any rate, the throbbing keyboard and steady, hard beat are somewhat jarring up against the lyrics.
And yet it works. And you're going to be humming this song all day long.
Somehow, the live performance at the 2022 Glastonbury music festival in the UK is even more jarring. SHE DOES NOT BLINK. Also, the audience knows the words because, well, it was a hit.
Her fans know the song so well, she doesn't even need to sing it, and often, she doesn't.
Rick Davies of Supertramp has passed away. It doesn't seem logical, but here we are.
This huge hit song - one of the band's biggest - was written by Roger Hodgson and features Davies on backing vocals and practically every instrument with keys.
Yep. The biggest Netflix movie of all time is a juggernaut. Basically, it's about a girl KPop group - HUNTR/X - who are rivals with a boy group - Saja Boys. Oh, and the boys are actual demons and the girls are, well, demon hunters.
And one of the girls is half demon.
And people love this movie. CRITICS love this movie. I've seen it. It is a fun romp and there is a lot of great music. Several actual KPop groups were consulted in making this movie, And real musicians - Ejae, Audrey Nuna, and Rei Ami - really performed this song. It's a real song.
And it is the real current #1 song on the Billboard pop chart, right now, in September 2025 as we write this.
And no, I didn't know it was the #1 song when I started writing this. I DID know it was a big hit song.
Anyway, check out the movie, and definitely check out the song.
Kneecap are an Irish rap group who perform in a mix of English and Gaelic. This particular song has a Gaelic title - it means "rights" - and was their debut in 2017. They've since released a lot of angry, loud, innovative, acclaimed music.
They are controversial and bombastic, but the trio has some serious skills.
By the way, in Ireland, these guys play arenas. They're huge. And they deserve to be.
Also, they would prefer strongly that Ireland be reunified.
A large number of great albums came out last week.
By a whisker, my favorite was Man's Best Friend, the new set from Sabrina Carpenter, and my opinion of it is rather unexpected. I expected to think it was just all right. Nope. It's great. Highly recommend.
This was the lead single, and it took a while for the combined country/80's homage to grow on me, but it did. This is, in my opinion, a solid candidate for Song of the Summer - we're going to have to wait and see what Billboard says about that, I guess - and one of the biggest hits of the year so far.
The song is also a little mean. But doesn't it sound fun?
Yes, despite how new it is, she has performed the song live a few times - like this performance from Lollapalooza a few weeks ago. Man, I remember when Lollapalooza was cool. And yes, Sabrina Carpenter is very cool.... but it's different now. Anyway, here's the performance.
I sincerely questioned whether or not I would ever post this song. It didn't connect me as immediately as "Blame Brett" did.
Then I listened to their new album, No Hard Feelings, which came out last Friday. I was way more blown away with the song in context..... and also, it is the title song of the album. They're really leaning pretty hard into a party girl mystique on the album in general, but in a fun and self-deprecating way.
These ladies are talented and I hope they don't burn themselves out too soon.
I mentioned yesterday that my sister had seen a band with Lights opening in Buffalo earlier this year.
That band was The Beaches. And of course they did this. And of course they sounded great. And of course she got video.
My sister was also there when they debuted this song in January. She's a big fan of The Beaches. Wanna see that one? I know you do... and that's good, because I added it as well.
I did not expect A6 to be my second favorite Lights album.
It's still not Siberia, but it's got a similarly unique - yes, I know. Oxymoron. Stay with me here - sound. It's a great, great album, end to end.
And I really can't wait until the as-of-this-writing-not-annouced-but-history-tells-me-I-am-right A6 Acoustic album next year. I'll happily update this post with the new version of 'Clingy", the fifth single from A6 and my personal favorite song on the record.
Anyway, my sister goes to a lot of concerts. One of them she went to earlier this year is tomorrow's featured artist, and I'll talk more about that then, but this was a special one-off show in Buffalo, and Lights was one of the opening acts.
This is one of those songs and bands you've heard, but you may not have known by name.
And yet, you hear this song and you know it instantly.
Produced by George Harrison, this 1971 single was Badfinger's biggest US hit. They were far from a one hit wonder, but their popularity in the US was not as prolific as their associates, The Beatles. However, their slide guitar solo skills are a lot better. Of course, those slide guitar parts were played by George Harrison..... so, maybe not.
But six women ended up winning this show - represent South Korea, Philippines, United States and Switzerland's best... K-Pop artists.
Here is their recent single. It was co-written by Charli XCX and previously offered to Rita Ora and Anitta (who both did record demos of the song that aren't bad). For a manufactured group with not the greatest dancer, they aren't half bad. The video is quite entertaining.
The group also performed the song last month at Lollapalooza.
Notice how we didn't say they "sung". It's very much about the performance.
Adéla Jergová is a singer from Slovakia. Now, we don't talk much about Slovakia here, and that's part of the problem. You see, her singing career really started when she moved to Los Angeles in 2022, aged 18. She moved there to compete in a reality series - Dream Academy - where the prize, in a very Korean-style competition, was to be in a 6-piece group called Katseye.
The show was in 2023, about a year after she moved there to train for the academy, and she competed with twenty other young women. In the first episode, half the women sang, and half danced, and then fan voting occurred. Adéla was on the dancing side - she danced to "Pink Venom" in a group....
...and then the fans got to vote.
The voting ended up being very skewed along national borders - and, since women all over the world were competing, women from populous countries got more votes. Despite her excellent dancing - and she IS an excellent dancer. Classically trained - she literally came in 20th.
This is her dance, singled out from the group. Sorry, she was great compared to the rest of her group.
She was robbed, and if you are watching the Netflix series Pop Star Academy: Katseye, you KNOW that the producers have a lot of regrets about how the fan voting happened. Slovakia was the smallest country represented and it showed in the voting.
Plus she didn't even get to sing.
But that's OK. The first episode of Dream Academy aired August 19, 2023 and by September 2024, she ALREADY had her first solo single released to critical acclaim. This song, released in October 2024, was her second single.... and yeah, it's about her experience.
Her debut EP is coming later this year, and I can't wait, because her poppy electronic sound is super compelling... and frankly better than anything Katseye has done thus far.
You see, I am currently going through a project to listen to 1000 albums in a year, and I asked for suggestions (and, by the way, I'll take more). There are a few bands that were definitely over-recommended - Pink Floyd, Tool, and Incubus were probably the top three.
At this point, I am 1/3 of the way through my little project, and I have listened to one album by each of those bands - which, well, the over-hyping really lowered my expectations on.
The Incubus album I listened to was 8. Even though Alternative Press magazine called it their worst album, I rather enjoyed it. Four stars, guys. This song, the third single from the album, opens Side A and, frankly, it's a stand-out for me. It's a straight-ahead rock sound without being heavy for heavy's sake.
So, whoever suggested Incubus.... bravo.
The thing about solid rock bands - and I have to say, Incubus falls in that category - is that their live performances, like this one from Kuala Lumpur in 2018 - sound just like the studio, but with more crowd noise and shaky camera work.
I was really angry yesterday, because when I wrote that post, I had just listened to an album by that songwriter that I absolutely loved - and I went into it wanting to hate it because of the things she had done.
But here's the thing. The song was really chosen by Jennifer Warnes, and she chose Joe Cocker - not known for his love ballads - as her duet partner, and it was their contrast that made this a great song that I very much did not appreciate when it was new. THEY won a Grammy for this song. THEY sold the song for the Oscar.
And, given that Jennifer Warnes performed on THREE Oscar-winning songs, she knew a thing or two about successful movie songs.
Even though he was much older, and she was just a childhood fan, from this song grew a 30-year friendship. They continued to perform their song together thought the rest of Cocker's life. This was their final performance, in 2013.
I am extraordinarily angry with Buffy Sainte-Marie.
For many years, Sainte-Marie was seen as a pioneering Canadian Indigenous singer-songwriter and an outspoken advocate for Indigenous rights and culture. However, extensive investigative journalism - led notably by CBC’s Fifth Estate - revealed strong evidence that Sainte-Marie was not born into the Cree community, as she long claimed. Instead, her Massachusettsbirth certificate reportedly indicates she was born to white parents - Italian, in fact - contradicting decades of her public narrative.
She was not only not Indigenous - at all - she was also not Canadian - at all. Sainte-Marie, in fact, was a Francophone-sounding version of her birth last name - Santamaria - that her parents changed to due to anti-Italian sentiments after the Second World War.
That, in itself, is pretty bad. But it gets worse.
She spent years claiming an Indigenous identity and then leveraging it - for awards, visibility, resources, and representation, which was meant for other people. By her actions, she told the access of others, and their real First Nations stories. This isn’t just a personal failing but an act that perpetuates erasure, appropriation, and betrayal, especially given how fiercely Sainte-Marie was defended and celebrated for her supposed identity - with statements and threatened lawsuits.
And she claimed she didn't mislead anyone, but this clip from Sesame Street says otherwise.
She may be "real", but her story about her heritage certainly was NOT.
I’m angry because Buffy Sainte-Marie made a career and earned accolades by claiming an identity and heritage that evidence now shows she didn’t have. This isn’t just a personal lie; it’s a harmful act that took away opportunities and space from genuine Indigenous people, betrayed the trust of fans and communities, and undermined the ongoing fight for First Nations voices to be heard and honored.
However, the one thing I cannot take away from her is that she is a songwriter with a rich and long resume. She has won many awards for her songwriting and performing - many of which have rightly been stripped because she earned them at the expense of actual Indigenous voices. However, her Academy Award for Best Original Song - that, I can't take away from her.
She doesn't deserve her Juno Awards, but I can't say she doesn't deserve the Oscar.
This song was featured in the movie An Officer and A Gentleman, and was a huge hit for Joe Cocker and Jennifer Warnes. It was a huge hit, and it was co-written by Buffy Sainte-Marie, in perhaps the most honest moment of her entire career.
It's a real shame, because she made a lot of great music. She's genuinely a gifted musician, and some of her albums are must-listens, even after all this. But she tarnished her own legacy.
Here she is performing the most honest song she ever wrote.
The title song from Snail Mail's second full length album, this is probably the closest thing to a hit she/they have. The stage name of Lindsey Jordan, this project has been met with wide critical acclaim - and with good reason. Jordan writes indie pop with a heart unlike any other artist today.
Personally, I think this is the best modern example of the quiet-loud-quiet structure of music. It opens quiet, and goes to a rockin' chorus. The video is very much a violent Bridgerton homage.
Also, you should be listening to Snail Mail, and now, you have an opportunity.
Of course, Lindsey and her band perform this song an awful lot, and I could have highlighted several performances.
I chose this one for The Current in 2021 because it was the most audible. Also, she sounds amazing and that guitar is very large for her.
But also, this performance from last month, four years after the one above, shows how much Lindsay has matured in those years as an artist.... and also, the guitar doesn't dwarf her anymore.
On Saturday night I was watching Storage Wars and a Michelin commercial came on. I'm not sure if this was the commercial - but this was the song.
It made me remember how absolutely amazing The Chemical Brothers were for a few minutes. Featuring vocals by co-writer Q-Tip and making heavy use of a song by Morrocan singer Najat Aatabou, the song clearly endures more than 20 years after its initial November 2004 release. It also won a Best Dance Recording Grammy in 2006.
The song is a great pump-up and an absolute banger.
Lest you think they made up that beat and did not sample it, here is the Najat Aatabou song.
Also kind of a banger.
I was concerned that I would not be able to find live performances of this song that is so clearly electronica.
I was wrong.
But this version from the 2019 Glastonbury music festival is.... strange and not really cohesive, although the beat is clearly there.
I did, however, find great footage of Najat Aatabou performing her song live.
This is not one of those times. This is a short 2-minutes song by Mumbai-based Adi - a fusion of EDM, hip hop and Bollywood. This is a cool little song, and a very cool self-made video (that he clearly made in California, not Mumbai)....
.... that looked very familiar to old-time Bollywood fans, as Adi was playing the part of Kishore Kumar, an artist he sampled for this song..... and this is the scene from the Bollywood movie - Chalta Ka Naam Gaadi, a 1958 film - where Kumar appeared. Should look familiar, no?
No one really knew when Run DMC hit the scene, but they had a couple of big hits when they hit the studio for their next recording - but they had to wait, since they were not well-established, for rock band Riot to finish recording. Inspired by their rock sound, they recorded a song with heavy rock guitar over their beats...
... and hated it.
So they chose to release a version without guitar.
However, both versions got released, and it was the guitar version that was a huge hit.... and ultimately won the group over.
Because of course it did. This song is a classic.
Run DMC first said a DJ could be a band, according to Public Enemy. This is the song they said that in, by the way..
I mention this now because this live performance with Jam Master Jay on the turntables really illustrates the power of the DJ.
So Jay passed in 2002. This ended Run DMC as a group - they were no more without their band. That doesn't mean that they stopped performing. Here is DMC in 2011, paying tribute to what he called the first rock-rap song.... and he may very well have been right.
Fast forward to 2021, and they did reform for occasional performances..
