Day 32: I know that there are many of you out there that really love the music of the 50s, 60s, and 70s. I just really have a hard time getting into it. The Beatles? Shrug. The Stones? Meh. Led Zeppelin? Just OK. But there are certain bands that get a pass from me for putting out an album before 1979. I am not exactly sure when I realized this trend exactly, but I have a feeling that it happened while listening to the classic 1977 Fleetwood Mac album Rumors. This was another one of the those albums that Dawn used to play for me when I was a kid, although I don't think that it was in the rotation quite as often as some of my others favorites. But some years later, Dawn bought me this tape for my birthday or Christmas, and I rediscovered this 70s gem. I had to admit, even though it was 100% 70s, this album was pretty cool. And thus, the Fleetwood Mac Exception was born. The honor that exception today, I present the classic "Go Your Own Way." Oddly, this song essentially falls into the category of the unrequited love song, which is perhaps one of my favorite categories of song. Yet, unlike bands such as R.E.M., The Cure, or The Smiths / Morrissey, Fleetwood Mac manages to be defiant about the love that it not fully returned. All in all, it is not a bad way to go.
11/02/2014
Day 33: Now come on, who doesn't like a little Elton John every once in a while? I know I do, I suppose I would characterize this member of the Fleetwood Mac Exception club as a bit of a Guilty Pleasure, but seriously: "Rocket Man" "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me" "Tiny Dancer?" You know that those songs are all awesome. I must admit that Dawn also played a lot of Elton John back in the day, but perhaps my favorite memory of Elton John was his performance of today's selection, "Crocodile Rock" on the Muppet Show. Much like the Muppets themselves, this song is just pure fun. The original performance seems to have taken place in 1977, so I assume that I saw it in reruns, but certainly in the early 80s, the Muppets had more street cred than any singer. Actually, they still might today, if I think about it. Kermit the Frog represents all that is good in the world, and if Elton is good enough for him, he is good enough for the Fleetwood Mac Exception.
11/03/2014
Day 34: A few weeks ago, I mentioned that I had developed a fondness for Paul Simon. Well, if Paul is OK, it only stands to reason that he was also OK back in the days of Simon and Garfunkel, right? I feel this "S&G" were also in the rotation in the days back at home, but I also developed more of an appreciation for them when I got to college and met Abigail and Jen. I remember one weekend during our Freshman year at MSU when several us of went back to Marshall for the weekend at Abigail's parents house. I don't specifically remember playing today's selection, "America" during that trip, but for whatever reason, that is the memory that I am linking to that song and to S&G in particular. Perhaps the theme of travel resonates ("Michigan seems like a dream to me now; It took me 4 days to hitchhike from Saginaw") even though the drive from East Lansing to Marshall was less than an hour. That was a fun weekend. I had a new friend, a new girlfriend (as Jen and I had just started dating), Abigail's Dad made us pancakes, and I even got to play Castle Wolfenstien with Nate and Ted. What more can a college freshman ask for?
11/04/2014
Day 35: As you can see, several groups to which I issue the Fleetwood Mac Exception can directly or indirectly be related back to those same early days at home with my big sister Dawn. But, today's selection is not one of them. I believe that my first exposure to today's exceptee, the ultra 70s Swedish act ABBA, actually comes by way of another band, the British electronic dance band Erasure. Back in 1992, Erasure issued a 4-track EP containing covers of classic ABBA songs. Their take was a 90s dance spin on the 70s classics, and they were pretty compelling. That EP cracked the door open. Many years later, after Jen and I moved back to Michigan, we joined the Livingston County Concert Band. During the summers especially, we would often play an concert band ABBA medley. What would you know, but those songs are just plain catchy. Then, the musical Mama Mia came to the Wharton Center... and then they made a move about it... At some point, I just had to admit it: I LIKE ABBA DAMMIT. So here you go, I offer up perhaps me favorite ABBA track, "Waterloo"
11/05/2014
Day 36: In the early days growing up at home, we did not listen to that much music, but there were some exceptions. We had a record player and an 8-track player, and especially on Sunday morning Dad would play some classical music, movie sound tracks, some gospel music from the Gaither Family, and a particular folk gospel record that I probably liked the best, but probably never knew the name of the group. (I remember Dad saying that they were from Australia...) It was also not unusual to watch Hee Haw and other variety shows with more of a country or (better yet) bluegrass feel. I don't specifically remember being introduced to Johnny Cash back in those days, but his mix of gospel and old country seems to fit in with those roots of my musical history. He was even featured on 120 minutes in 1994 for his album "American Recordings," so for me, he had cred. Shortly after he passed away in 2003, I decided that I really should own some of his music, so I bought a best-of CD. I had always heard that Cash was "The Man in Black," but I had never actually heard the song of that name until I purchased that album. This song simply blows me away every time I listen to it. It is clearly a protest song for a time of war, but it is so, so much deeper than that. Do yourself a favor and just listen to the words of the entire song. I could quote almost the entire song here, but as a sample, "Well, we're doin' mighty fine, I do suppose, In our streak of lightnin' cars and fancy clothes, But just so we're reminded of the ones who are held back, Up front there ought 'a be a Man In Black" For me the song is about remembering those that are less fortunate, and about pushing yourself to do better, to be a better person, to help others more, and to work everyday to make the world a better place. It's a sad song, but it also brings hope. Because hope is never truly lost unless we give up, or unless we simply forget to keep trying. I think Johnny was right; we all need a man in black to help us remember that.
11/06/2014
Day 37: Yesterday, I spoke a little about Dad. Today's selection is for Mom. Mom has never been a big fan of popular music, but there is one singer that brings a smile to her face: Elvis Presley. Who am I to deny the Fleetwood Mac Exception to the King? Perhaps most appropriate to this project, Mom would often comment that she is wasn't strictly Elvis's music that she likes, but it reminds her of her days in nursing school in Kalamazoo, where the girls she knew would just go crazy for that boy and his swiveling hips. One year, I decided that Mom might like an Elvis best-of-CD for Christmas... and I decided that maybe I would like one too. So, I would like to close this chapter on pre-1979 music with the Elvis "remix" that I believe was used in the film Ocean's 11, "A Little Less Conversation." Over the past month or so, I have told my musical origin story, explored my love of the music video, and reached back in the decade of my birth and beyond. With the next chapter, I would like to take a deeper dive into that all-important time period when both my love of music and my tape collection exploded; that time when alternative music went from the underground to the mainstream. Everybody put on your black and orange and check the map for the intersection of M-52 and M-106. We're headed back to high school.
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