The Sunday Six

Welcome to the first Sunday Six of this summer, which officially started on Wednesday. It was also the longest day and shortest night in the Northern Hemisphere. I hope you’re up for another trip to visit some great music of the past and the present. The magical music time machine is ready to take off, so grab a seat and fasten your seatbelt while I set the controls for our first stop. And off we go!

Miles Davis/I Fall In Love Too Easily

Today, we start our journey in July 1963 and Seven Steps to Heaven, a studio album by Miles Davis. During his five-decade career, the trumpeter, bandleader and composer was at the forefront of many major stylistic developments in jazz, making him one of the most influential and acclaimed music artists of the 20th century. On Seven Steps to Heaven, Davis worked with Herbie Hancock (piano), Ron Carter (bass) and Tony Williams (drums), who became his regular sidemen for the next five years. I Fall In Love Too Easily, composed in 1944 by English-American songwriter Jule Styne, featured Davis, George Coleman (tenor saxophone), Victor Feldman (piano), Carter and Frank Butler (drums).

Dirty Honey/Heartbreaker 2.0

Our next stop takes us back to the present and a cool classic rock-oriented band I first came across in April 2021. Dirty Honey, founded in 2017 in Los Angeles, have a sound reminiscent of groups like Aerosmith, Led Zeppelin and The Black Crowes. Heartbreaker 2.0, their most recent single released in January this year, is an updated version of Heartbreaker, a tune that first appeared on their eponymous debut EP, which came out in March 2019. This song nicely rocks and I look forward to more music by these guys!

Bo Diddley/Who Do You Love?

The beauty of the magical music time machine is it can take us to any year of any decade in an instant. So, how about the ’50s? Sure! Let’s go to 1956 and the man who became famous for playing rectangular electric guitars and a seductive signature beat: Bo Diddley, who played was instrumental in the transition from the blues to rock & roll, and influenced many artists, such as Buddy Holly, Elvis Presley, The Rolling Stones, The Animals and George Thorogood. Here’s Diddley’s classic Who Do You Love? written by him and first released as a single in 1956. Featuring his signature Bo Diddley Beat, the tune was also included on his eponymous debut album, which came out in 1958.

David Bowie/Life On Mars?

Since I saw a great David Bowie tribute band on Tuesday, the English singer-songwriter and actor has been on my mind. I’m particularly drawn to Bowie’s early phase. This particular pick leads us to December 1971, which saw the release of his 4th studio album Hunky Dory. Bowie was clearly intrigued with space exploration, as evidenced by tunes like Space Oddity, Starman and Life On Mars? Hunky Dory introduced Bowie’s new core backing band of Mick Ronson (guitar), Trevor Bolder (bass) and Mick Woodmansey (drums), who would soon become The Spiders from Mars. The piano part on Life On Mars? was played by Rick Wakeman, then a session musician and soon-to-be member of Yes.

Third Eye Blind/Semi-Charmed Life

Next, let’s pay a visit to the ’90s with a catchy tune I well remember hearing on the radio: Semi-Charmed Life by alternative rock band Third Eye Blind. The tune first appeared in February 1997 as the lead single of their eponymous debut album, which was released in April of the same year. Solely credited to frontman Stephan Jenkins (lead vocals, guitar, keyboards), Semi-Charmed Life became their most successful single. Third Eye Blind were formed in San Francisco in 1993 and are still around, with Jenkins remaining as the only original member.

Scorpions/Rock You Like a Hurricane

Once again, the time has come to wrap up another musical excursion. For our final stop, let’s go out with a bang by German pop metal rockers Scorpions and Rock You Like a Hurricane. The tune was included on their ninth studio album Love At First Sting, which solidified the band’s international popularity and became their biggest seller. Scorpions were formed in Hanover in 1965 by Rudolf Schenker (rhythm guitar, backing vocals) who remains with the group to this day, as are two members who were part of the line-up that recorded the album: Klaus Meine (lead vocals) and Matthias Jabs (lead guitar, backing vocals). Scorpions are currently touring in Europe. I still love that guitar riff and Meine is a killer vocalist. And don’t you love his German accent? 🙂

This post wouldn’t be complete without a Spotify playlist of the above-featured tracks. Hope there’s something you dig and that you’ll join me again next Sunday for another trip!

Sources: Wikipedia; Scorpions website; YouTube; Spotify

Best of What’s New

Another Saturday is upon us, and this means it’s time to take a fresh look at newly released music. All featured tracks in this post appear on releases that came out yesterday (September 24). Without further ado, let’s get to it!

Third Eye Blind/Goodbye to the Day of Ladies and Gentlemen

Third Eye Blind are an alternative rock band founded in San Francisco in 1993. In the early 1990s, singer-songwriter and guitarist Stephan Jenkins set out to start the group. He worked on early material with bassist Jason Slater that resulted in the band’s first demo. In their early years, Third Eye Blind experienced frequent line-up changes. After Slater’s departure, guitarist Kevin Cadogan joined with whom Jenkins developed a songwriting partnership. In June 1996, the group signed with Elektra Records. Despite significant challenges, Third Eye Blind’s eponymous debut album finally appeared in April 1997. It reached no. 25 in the U.S. on the Billboard 200, also charted in Canada, Australia and New Zealand, and has sold more than six million copies, becoming the band’s best-selling album to date. Third Blind Eye have since since released six additional records including their latest, Our Bande Apart. Here’s the nice opener Goodbye to the Day of Ladies and Gentlemen penned by Jenkins who also wrote or co-wrote all of the album’s remaining tracks.

Jesse Malin/Greener Pastures

Singer-songwriter and guitarist Jesse Malin started his career in 1980 when he was only 12 years old as frontman of New York hardcore group Heart Attack. In 1991, he co-founded D Generation, a glam punk band, in which he continues to perform as lead vocalist to this day. After the group’s break-up in 1999 (they reunited in 2011), Malin launched a solo career. Influenced by Neil Young, Steve Earle and Tom Waits, he changed his sound. His solo debut The Fine Art of Self-Destruction first came out in the UK in October 2002 before it appeared in the U.S. in January 2003. Eight additional solo albums by Malin have since been released. Here’s Greener Pastures, a beautiful tune from Malin’s new Americana-oriented album Sad and Beautiful World.

Mac McCaughan/The Sound of Yourself

According to his profile on Apple Music, Mac McCaughan wears multiple hats. He is a co-founder of the seminal indie band Superchunk, founder and leader of Portastatic, a former member of Seam and Go Back Snowball, and co-owner of Merge Records, one of America’s most successful and influential independent labels. Despite his success, McCaughan has strayed little from his punk rock principles in terms of both music and business, and after more than 25 years of making records, he opted to launch a belated solo career in 2015 with the release of the synthy Non-Believers...While Superchunk continued releasing albums of the high-energy fuzz pop they were known for, McCaughan furthered his deepening fascination with synth sounds, collaborating with ambient harpist Mary Lattimore on a series of improvisations that was released in 2019 as the New Rain Duets album by the Three Lobed label. This brings me to his latest solo release, The Sound of Yourself. Here’s the title track. I like it!

Ringo Starr/Let’s Change the World

Only six months after Zoom In, Ringo Starr is out with another EP, Change the World. Of course, I couldn’t ignore it! Just like the previous EP, the four tracks were recorded at Starr’s Roccabella West studio, according to a recent announcement on his website. “I’ve been saying I only want to release EPs at this point and this is the next one,” he commented. “What a blessing it’s been during this year to have a studio here at home and be able to collaborate with so many great musicians, some I’ve worked with before and some new friends.” Guest artists include Joseph Williams and Steve Lukather, both from Toto, as well as Joe Walsh and Nathan East, among others. Here’s the title track co-written by Williams and Lukather. Backing vocals were provided by Amy Keys, Zelma Davis, Billy Valentine and Darryl Phinnessee. Let’s Change the World perfectly fits the hope and optimism Ringo Starr continues to radiate at age 81 – I just love the man!

Sources: Wikipedia; Apple Music; Ringo Starr website; YouTube