Author: mystro2b

Party Out of Bounds by The B-52’s.

Surprise! I love this song as much as the album cover.

Linus and Lucy by Vince Guaraldi Trio.

There is no way I can separate this song from my childhood memories of The Peanuts Specials and Dolly Madison treats!

The song is most famous for its use in the perennial favorite A Charlie Brown Christmas, which first aired in 1965, but it was written two years earlier for a documentary about Schulz and the Peanuts gang called A Boy Named Charlie Brown, which never aired. The San Francisco-based producer Lee Mendelson was in charge of the documentary and asked Vince Guaraldi to compose music for it.

https://www.songfacts.com/facts/vince-guaraldi-trio/linus-and-lucy

Mother’s Only Sleeping by Ricky Skagg’s and Kentucky Thunder.

Such a plaintive tune sung with harmony that will make you cry.

Let’s Groove by Earth Wind and Fire.

In grade school, another friend I rarely hung out with outside of school introduced me to this song. He was not just a fan; he was a super fan of Earth Wind and Fire. He owned all their albums and had multiple posters in his room…I think it freaked me out. It was all he listened to at the time.

Miss Gradenko by The Police.

Stewart Copeland‘s ambiguous lyrics at work from the fifth and final album of The Police. Some inside story from his CIA father crafted into a catchy tune perhaps? You decide.

Jackson by Johnny Cash with June Carter Cash.

If you know anything about Johnny and June, it’s that their relationship is the stuff of legend. Originally performed by Billy Edd Wheeler, Johnny and June’s version peaked at #2 on the Country charts and earned them a Grammy Award for Best Country & Western Performance Duet, Trio or Group (Vocal or Instrumental) in 1968.

It’s a Long Way to the Top by Jack Black.

One of my all time favorite covers of this song by AC/DC. Jack Black is a comedic hero when he plays this song as part of the end credits of School of Rock. How many music teachers have wanted to have this kind of moment with their students- ME!

Kiss Off by The Violent Femmes.

The bad boys of indie-acoustic-rock are back with a classic insult. I’m guessing the original insult was more explicit, but perhaps the executives at Slash Records asked for a different four letter word…

Help Me (a Tribute to Sonny Boy Williams) by Junior Wells Chicago Blues Band.

More for you Blues education. There is something very personal about this track from Junior Wells’s opening spoken tribute to that wailing harmonica and pleading voice. It will “linger in your hearts forever…”

Institutionalized by Suicidal Tendencies.

This song is so far from my high school experience with my parents, and so far over the top, it’s like an audio train wreck- I dare you to listen away (vs. look away…get it?).