In June 2023, Karen Dió was a struggling Brazilian musician.
In July 2023, she had a badass single.
And just like that, there was some worldwide attention on the Brazilian punk scene thanks to this riot grrrl.
Formerly of Violet Soda (who broke apart in 2021), Karen Dió made the conscious choice to go solo this time, so she could keep the control. Kinda hard for a solo act to break up, eh?
Anyway, the song is great.
Hell yeah she does it live. This performance from Germany shows the energy she brings to the song.
This song - written by drummer Kelly Keagy, who also sings and drums on the track, as a tribute to his sister, Christy (Jack Blades just thought it was Christian) - was released in March 1984.
I was 12.
The song was EVERYWHERE and unescapable on radio.
I couldn't stand the song. HATED it.
Well, time has made me see that the song is brilliantly constructed. The second single from their album Midnight Madness, it is by far their biggest hit.
When you hear "motorin'", you should think "cruisin'", as in going SO FAST.
I find it absolutely fascinating that anyone can drum and sing at the same time, and yet, that's exactly what Keagy did live.
This is from a 1983 performance, and the lyrics are slightly different because they are performing the album version, which had more words. Single and album versions of songs were once a bigger deal.
Did you assume that Night Ranger was a thing of the past?
Nope. They're still together. And as you can see in this performance from 2024, still playing the hell out of this song.
They are not to be confused with Bobby Knight Ranger, who were a fictional band played by Yo La Tengo on the TV show Parks and Recreation.
But also, this is my blog, and when a new artist releases a new album and one of their songs gets into heavy rotation for me, I'm gonna post about it.
And Shhugar, Baby Nova's fantastic debut album that was released in January of this year, is a good album to talk up. After toiling in the industry for a decade and a half, Kayleigh O'Connor finally has an album getting its due.
This song, its lead single released in 2025, was co-written by Baby Nova, Lowell and Gus Van Go. It should be giving you Lana Del Rey vibes.
It came from Sick of it All's 2018 album Wake The Sleeping Dragon. It was a comeback of sorts, and it was met with universal critical acclaim.
Pretty impressive for a hardcore band that was formed in 1986 by Lou and Pete Koller to still be making music that aggressive and that poignant more than 30 years later. And that's what Sick of it All's music is - aggressive, poignant, and in your face.
But you all see that Special Edition label. You know I ain't here with good news.
Lou Koller, primary vocalist for the band, had been suffering with esophageal cancer. Yesterday, the band announced his passing. Now, at this point, I always say "he will be missed" and that's true but this is different.
You see, Lou knew he was one of the elder statesmen of hardcore, and he took that seriously. He famously mentored and befriended other up-and-coming musicians. There are hardcore bands that exist and thrived largely because Lou was their mentor and partner. Lou was one of the good guys in a rough industry.
So yeah, I feature a song with a funny title.
They kept releasing singles from the album through 2020. This video, which might not exist if not for the pandemic, featured videos of the band's fans, singing the song.
The band loved and respected their fans, and that started and ended with Lou.
Now, normally, I wouldn't be talking up so much a band in a genre of music I'm not generally all that into. It's not generally for me.
Sick of it All were talented enough and nice enough and resonated enough that I did like them. In fact, I was fortunate enough to see them live in 1995, on the first Warped Tour. I saw them at the Northampton Airport in Massachusetts, but the show I'm posting here is literally from two days before that.
Lou opened that show the same way he opened ours: by inviting fans closer and telling them to "watch out for each other and respect each other."
So today, when I say he'll be missed, it ain't a platitude. It's that a true pioneer and a nice person has passed, and he WILL be actively missed.
Well, this was not the route this post was going to go.
It started off with me hearing a Whitney Houston song earlier that I had not heard in several years, but found myself enjoying (I didn't particularly when it was new).
I decided I would do a post about it this week.
So I started looking for the song on YouTube and I found THIS first.
This was produced by Kygo and featured Whitney Houston doing a Steve Winwood cover - in addition to originating the song, he co-wrote it with Will Jennings.
The song was released in 2019.
Seven years after Houston's death.
And was a huge hit in the UK and elsewhere,
So this got me thinking - she must have done this during her life, right?
Turns out, she DID. The song appeared on Japanese pressings of her 1990 album I'm Your Baby Tonight, and she performed it live during the Japanese dates on her tour supporting that album.
Of course, then I had to dig, and it turns out that James Vincent McMorrow - an Irish singer - had a hit in the UK and Ireland with his very quiet and chilling version of the song.
Of course, nothing tops the 1986 version that marked Winwood's first trip to #1 on the US Charts. It's exciting. It gives that mid-80s feel. But also, the song endures.
Now, I could show you a live version from 1986 - I found a great one.
I am instead choosing his 2023 version from King Charles's Coronation Concert at Windsor Castle. He performed a pretty spry and solid cross-Commonwealth performance of the song.
Woefully under-appreciated in the rest of the world because it's in French?
Also yes.
Going to get more attention on here because French posts do about 5% better than any others?
Strangely, yes.
Unapologetically, Noor's album 1900 jours is one of my favorite of the year, and I encourage you to seek it out. It is a very quiet album. It's absolutely sublime.
Even though she's an obscure French artist, she does live versions of her music?
Last week, news spread that Jennifer Finch, bassist for L7, had an agressive form of brain cancer. Last night, she succumbed to that. She was the bassist for the band for most of its tenure, right up until July 13th. The band was planning a tour this coming October (I'm not sure they won't still do that), but Finch, who was originally supposed to perform, was forced to back out this week due to her cancer.
This song was from their 1992 breakthrough Bricks are Heavy, and was co-written by Finch and Daniel Rey. Even though she wasn't the primary vocalist for the band (that would be Donita Sparks), Finch also took lead vocals on the song.
Yes, Jennifer Finch will be missed.
Finch did leave the band for a bit, but she came back and performed with them again, to the delight of fans.
Here they are performing the song live in 2024 and they still sound just as good!
Her second album, Age of the Exhibitionist, is coming in September, and this is the first single, released last Friday. It's pretty solid hyperpop, and she doesn't really seem to be asking which seat she can take or reciting days of the week.
The occasional member of The Rentals didn't perform on the album but the other six members did.
Matt Sharp's post-Weezer indie project clearly had to make a dramatic video for their second single. I'm not sure if I like Petra Haden's bike jump into violin solo better or worse than current Iowa State Senator Cherielynn Westrich's background vocals into a CB as she's quickly driving in.
The Rentals have come and gone several times since the 90s with Sharp as the only constant member. Here they are performing in Japan in 2014.
No, there are no Iowa State Senators in this iteration.
She was, however, present at this in-store performance that was somewhat stripped down and lacked the multiple Moogs (only Tom Grimley on his) in 1996.
Before alternative music was mainstream, Dave Kendall brought it to MTV every Sunday at midnight and guaranteed that I would be blearly-eyed on Mondays.
The show was 120 Minutes, and it was groundbreaking.
But pioneers have their detractors, so in 1990, the Whitman Samplers combined cut-up samples of Dave speaking with AC/DC's "Back In Black" to make a rather funny song that amused Dave Kendall in life.
Dave Kendall passed away yesterday. This may be the first time we have paid tribute to a non-musician, but he was perhaps the one personality that shaped my musical taste, more than any other, and he will be missed.
And he really connected with fans. Here he is talking to a completely random Robyn Hitchcock fan on the street.
That fan was, of course, Matt Pinfield, who took over 120 Minutes when Dave moved on. I'm going to close this post with Matt's tribute to Dave.
Rest easy, Dave.
Heartbroken to hear about the passing of Dave Kendall.
Dave was one of the true believers. Long before alternative music found its way into the mainstream, he was there every week on 120 Minutes, introducing people to bands that would go on to define an era. He didn’t just host… pic.twitter.com/IVTHRV301i
I mentioned the Polaris Prize yesterday. But they aren't the only ones with a recent shortlist. The Prix Joséphine - a prize honouring French-language artists (mostly) - also has a shortlist that was dropped recently. I haven't listened to all of them yet - I will this week - but what I have heard so far is full of standouts.
One such standout is Belgian-Congolese dance artist Camille Yembe. Her latest album Jeune & Laide was shortlisted, and I have to say, it's REALLY good. Mostly performed in French, she does mix English language into her beats.
This is her latest single. Despite having nothing to celebrate, it is a spirited song. The video was recorded in Brussels.
The beats and sounds that back her sound dense, but as you can see live, it's her voice and flow that really fill the stage.
Last week, the Polaris Music Prize shortlist was released. 10 great Canadian albums are on there. Well, in my opinion, 9 great Canadian albums and one good one. I would have personally chosen six of them myself, and I really couldn't fault the rest of them.
One that I wouldn't have chosen but has really grown on me is the latest by singer/songwriter Charlotte Cornfield. Her March 2026 album Hurts Like Hell is a beautiful piece of storytelling. This title song - so far longlisted for the SOCAN Polaris Song Prize - is a heartbreaking, lush piece that evokes thought of Courtney Barnett and Randy Newman.
This cool and mellow vibe - which permeates the album - is even more apparent when listening to the song live.
By 1987. Foreigner was done really releasing new music. Lou Gramm, however, was at the top of his game, and so he released a solo album, Ready or Not.
It's weird to me that the guy I used to run into at the Webster Wegmans - this is not a joke, people - has a top 5 solo hit in 1987 that is broadly considered to be one of the most underrated pop-rock songs in history. He does still make music - even after a brain tumor impacted his voice - but this was his biggest solo hit. Written by Gramm and Foreigner bandmate Bruce Turgon, it really does endure.
There's a lot of recent performances by Gramm of this song, but I chose this one from 2018, from a fair in Wisconsin. Yes, the tumor impacted his voice and his body, but I have to say, he adapted well and he still sounds amazing.
And I hoped I wouldn't need to write another one too soon.
Two months and one day later, Bonnie Tyler has passed away from that very illness that sent her to an induced coma. I honestly thought she was going to recover.
I chose for this day her last US top 40 hit - hitting #34 in 1984 - from the Footloose soundtrack. You forgot it was on that soundtrack, didn't you? It was a much bigger hit in the UK, where a 1985 rerelease brought it to the top of the charts.
Written by Jim Steinman and Dean Pitchford (he co-wrote every song on that soundtrack), the song became a Bonnie Tyler staple and one of her most recognized. She rerecorded the song several times, but it was never as successful as the original.
She was performing right up until this year. This was her in Paris in 2023, and she was still going strong.
Bonnie Tyler was a force of nature. Her spirit and her unique voice will be missed.
I often tell the story of when I met Natalie Merchant and how she wasn't very nice because she was trying to make horse riding plans for the next day.
What I don't say much is that Robert Buck wasn't exactly nice either. But he just seemed tired, and he was nicer when I met him at a later date.
What does that have to do with anything? Well, guitarist Robert Buck wrote the music for Natalie's lyrics for this, the third single from their classic Blind Man's Zoo album that I feel was their best work.
I have been fortunate enough to see 10,000 Maniacs live several times, including a few times with Natalie on vocals. I definitely saw them on this 1993 tour, which was Natalie's last with the band, and while it wasn't this performance, it was the same tour.... and it also featured violinist Mary Ramsey on stage.
I actually saw them in July, just days before their final performance at MSG.
Nevertheless, 10,000 Maniacs have persisted, mostly with Mary Ramsey on vocals. Here is a 2025 performance with Mary Ramsey.
I was too young to have heard Wire in the 1970s. My parents were not exposing me to UK punk. No, back then, I was getting crossover country by Mac Davis and Loretta Lynn and Kenny Rogers.
All of which I appreciate now, but still. It's not UK punk
No, I first learned of them when Enigma Records signed them in the 80s and brought their music to my ears. They had an electronic sound that was appealing to my 14-year-old budding music fan ears.
Boy, was I ever shocked to hear Pink Flag when I did.
This song, from their 1985 album The Ideal Copy, was written by the band and did fuel a minor comeback.
Wire, believe it or not, is STILL around, and still tours sometimes. This is a live show from 2017. They still sound great - even though they have returned to a guitar-driven sound.
I have to admit, I had a much better, classier, more epic post ready for Canada Day. I briefly considered moving this song to that day and doing Ariane Roy next year.
However, the kids are doing baton and flag this year, and that means a routine well-oiled to match a particular song.
The song they picked is an American classic that just happens to be sung by a Canadian and co-written by that Canadian and her South African then-husband (Robert John "Mutt" Lange - who also produced this). The lyrics are by Shania and are about the time she had to raise her younger siblings in Timmins, Ontario as a child after their parents passed away.
I bet you didn't know the song was so dark, did you?
So, yeah, I'm gonna be hearing this song a LOT this summer, so I either better get on board with liking it or else I'm gonna hate life all summer.
Anyway, the song was a monster hit in 1999 - hitting #1 worldwide on both pop and country charts. And the video should look familiar if you've been paying attention this week.
It also won two Grammys, so why don't we just share her absolutely tremendous Grammy performance?
And, let's be honest - she was 33 when she performed that song at the Grammys. She was 58 when she performed it at Glastonbury in 2024..... and she still sounded amazing.
