OAKLAND IN THE HOUSE! Besides just genuinely being awesome, props to the Hieros for regularly putting on a free outdoor music festival downtown. And bigger props to Del for using a line from Liberace (!) as one of his album titles.
Author: Joe
Herbie Hancock
Herbie Hancock’s Joni Mitchell cover album, River: The Joni Letters, won the Album of the Year Grammy in 2008 and went to #5 on the Billboard 200. It was his highest-charting album ever, and higher than any actual Joni Mitchell album in over 30 years. Which doesn’t have a whole lot to do with anything, except I like to mention Joni Mitchell as often as possible in these posts. (Hancock also did a Gershwin cover album where Joni sings an absolutely amazing version of “The Man I Love.” For the record, he has also recorded about 1,000 albums that have nothing to do with Mitchell.)
Heavy Metal
My friend Marcy, a big metal-head, was furious the year that Jethro Tull won the Grammy for best heavy metal group back in the late 80s. “Jethro Tull? NOT! METAL!” she shouted to anyone who would listen. I don’t know much about metal, but I’m pretty sure that any group that has flute as a lead instrument doesn’t qualify.
Harry Belafonte
Day-O!! Da-a-a-ay-O!! I bet people bust that out all the time when they run into Harry Belafonte. I bet Harry Belafonte is really sick of people doing that.
Hank Williams
I don’t really listen to—or even know much about—country music. But if I did, I might listen to Hank Williams. He looks like Bing Crosby’s dapper country cousin, but he was one of the original members of the “live fast, die young” set (decades before Hendrix, Morrison, Joplin, etc.). Looks can be deceiving.
Hall & Oates
Fun facts about Hall & Oates: 1) They once appeared on an album cover in full make-up—because, why not?; 2) They are the first group to take a song containing the word “b***h” all the way to #1; 3) My friend Chuck is a dead ringer for Oates (also, Cat “Peace Train/Kill Salman Rushdie” Stevens), which might explain his intense and possibly unhealthy passion for the group; and 4) They’ve been together 40 years, and still no one is exactly sure what Oates does.
Groove Instrumental
Alternately known as “bachelor pad music,” which implies “music for straight dudes.” As a gay man, I guess my soundtrack is supposed to include Madonna or Judy Garland—but I’d rather listen to “Grazing in the Grass” any day.
Grateful Dead
Bleccch. I know, I live near San Francisco—I’ve been to the Greek Theater! Many times!—and just … bleccch.
Go-Go
There was a brief time in the late 80s where critics predicted go-go would be the next national craze, rivaling hip-hop in popularity. This turned out to be a bit optimistic: Even given the huge success of E. U.’s “Da Butt,” I’m pretty sure that, all by themselves, the Go-Gos (the group) outsold all the go-go (the genre) acts combined.
Glam
For all the bad things one can say about the 70s (and as a child of the 70s, I’ve got a laundry list from here to Alabama), one good thing from that era was male rockers feeling comfortable performing in makeup and outfits that even RuPaul would dismiss as “too gaudy.” Come to think of it, that might be the best thing to say about the 70s.
Playlist of the Day 