Rickie Lee Jones once told an interviewer that she was no-way-not-at-all-not-one-bit-how-dare-you-even-suggest-it influenced by Joni Mitchell.
Rickie Lee Jones is in denial. Or lying.
Rock
Richard Thompson/ Richard & Linda Thompson
When your cheeriest lyric is about being “Nearly in Love” and your cheeriest melody is in a song about riding the “Wall of Death” … let’s just say, I bet Richard Thompson is a hoot at parties.
Replacements
The only time I ever did a stage dive was when I went to see the Lyres in Providence. I mention that here because the same guy who turned me on to the Lyres also introduced me to the Replacements. For which I am forever grateful. (Plus, I get to blow my kids’ minds with the image of their dad doing a stage dive.)
R.E.M.
For their first 10 albums or so, R.E.M. were pretty much the best American rock band out there. Then they, uh, weren’t. Bonus points for coming back strong with their last couple of records before calling it quits for good.
Randy Newman
When people got all offended by the song “Short People,” I was like, “Come on, it’s obviously a joke. Look at how short Randy Newman is!” Randy Newman is six feet tall. Further proof that you should never assume I know what I’m talking about.
Radiohead
Here’s how you know you are old: You say, “I can’t give Radiohead a list, because I’m only doing acts that were around before 2000, and they’re only about 10 years old.” And then you find out that Radiohead released their first album in … 1993. That’s how you know you are old.
Queen
I suppose I should love the fact that such a big queen (pun entirely intended) became one of the biggest global superstars ever. But—”Bohemian Rhapsody” aside, because really, how can you hate something so ridiculously over-the-top?—I still can’t stand much of their music. On the plus side, they have enough hits that I don’t have to include “Radio Ga-Ga” on this list.
Punk
Believe it or not, when the Sex Pistols sang “God Save the Queen,” they were not being patriotic. It’s called irony. And in another ironic twist, tomorrow’s playlist is Queen—a band that I’m sure the original punk rockers would have bashed repeatedly over the head with their guitars, if given the chance.
Prog Rock
In the early days of rock, the definition of a great song was, “It has a good beat, and you can dance to it.” By the time the prog rockers came around, their definition was “It has 17 key and time signature changes, you need an Oxford unabridged dictionary and a Tolkien companion to decipher the lyrics, and you couldn’t dance to it if you had 135 legs.” Personally, I’d rather listen to the Miracles.
Pretenders
My friend and co-worker Lori was a dead ringer for Chrissie Hynde. Lori and I saw the Pretenders at the Tower Theater in Philly sometime around 1984. Lori also introduced me to Joy Division, New Order, Echo & the Bunnymen, and others. Yeah, Lori was pretty cool.
Playlist of the Day 