THE HEPTONES - "Night Food" (1976)

 

In my humble opinion, some of the best Reggae music ever recorded was in the 1970's. There were just so many bands that were at the top of their creative game, and The Heptones were one of them, and here's a perfect tune to prove my point!

THE HEPTONES - "Book Of Rules" 

THE MIGHTY BLUE KINGS - "Meet Me In Uptown" (1996)

 

I'm in the mood to just listen to some good fun music these days, and this release from the 1996 CD titled "Meet Me In Uptown" by The Mighty Blue Kings does the trick. 

Take a load off, forget all the BS, kick back and have a good time!

THE MIGHTY BLUE KINGS - "Buzz Buzz Buzz"

TAJ MAHAL - "Satisfied 'N Tickled Too" (1976)

 

There are so many great songs in Taj Mahal's repertoire over the years that it was difficult to just pick out one. The song I was looking for, his version of  "Nobody's Business But My Own" that was recorded live at Big Sur, I couldn't find on YouTube for some reason, but that's okay, this song is almost just as satisfying.

So here you go, it's the title tune from this awesome 1976 album.

TAJ MAHAL - "Satisfied 'N Tickled Too"

JIM KWESKIN AND THE JUG BAND "Beedle Um Bum" (1963)

 

There was a time many many years ago when Skiffle music was very big in the UK, and Jug Band music was fairly popular in the states, but then Rock music overshadowed both of them in both countries and bands like Jim Kweskin And The Jug Band pretty much virtually disappeared.

Kazoos are probably the cheapest musical instrument a person can buy, so maybe it's time for a Jug Band music revival. 

This very fun self-titled album was released in 1963, and is chock fully of nutty stuff like this.

JIM KWESKIN AND THE JUG BAND - "Beedle Um Bum"

FLAMIN' GROOVIES - "Shake Some Action" (1976)

 

The Flamin' Groovies are the epitome of a rock and roll band. Musically, all their dots are connected, and I'm really not quite why they are not more popular than they are.

"Shake Some Action"  made in 1976 was their 4th studio album, and it's just good from beginning to end, and the title song is a really good example of what they do best, and that is rock! 

Sometimes they were The Flamin' Groovies, and sometimes they were just Flamin' Groovies, but it really doesn't change anything, they were still great either way!

FLAMIN' GROOVIES - "Shake Some Action" 

List Songs, Part Five - "We Didn't Start The Fire"

 

Rich here to bring my series about songs that are comprised of lists to a conclusion, this one featuring Billy Joel's "We Didn't Start the Fire" (1989). Billy Joel gets a tough rap a lot of the time. He could be self-absorbed and overbearing and glib. But he was one of the best songwriters of the past 50 years, and when he addressed social issues, he was usually spot-on. 

 

In the late '80s, after nearly 10 years of Reagan conservatism, idealistic young people started marching in the streets again, protesting economic inequality, human rights abuses ignored by America, the ongoing AIDS crisis, the menace of nuclear energy, the injuries to the environment, and the ineffectuality of neoliberalism. 

Just like we Baby Boomer had done to our parents, the youth in the streets blamed our generation for the risks to the country and to the planet. A Baby Boomer himself, Billy didn't dispute the accusations but denied that our generation had "started the fire" -- that history of the previous 50 years was filled with both cool cultural highs as well as terrible and horrific lows, and that the fire had been burning for a long time before the Baby Boomers came around.

 

Some might argue that REM was making a roughly similar point with "It's the End of the World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)," but their song wasn't as succinct a "List Song" as Joel's, which is a culturally and historically excellent list of post-World War II history:

BILLY JOEL - "We Didn't Start The Fire" 

MEAT PUPPETS - "Up On The Sun" (1985)

 

What can you expect from a band with a name like Meat Puppets?

Actually, you can expect a lot, and that's exactly what you'll get from this 1985 album of theirs titled "Up On The Sun." 

Listen to this song, and I think you'll agree.

MEAT PUPPETS - "Up On The Sun"