On Saturday, mischievous WORDPRESS posted a group of draft posts, one of which was Anatomy of 55 More Songs. This is the finished product.
“Neuroscience-based studies show that songs from decades ago have the power to relax us, stir up nostalgic feelings, and unconsciously rekindle memories we associate with those recordings. The reason we like to listen top songs from our past is they are instantly familiar, we already know the words and music, and they transport us back to a time when our lives seemed less complicated.” (p. 1-2)
As most of you know, I usually post about music every week and try to listen to music every day. I have over 2000 music CDs to choose from so I offer a diverse mix of songs.
Deb wondered about Marc Meyers’ criteria for these songs. Here’s his answer: “First, I looked for hits that were iconic but not tired. In other words, songs the reader will know but haven’t been worn out, which would exhaust their appeal. Second, I looked for songs that played a significant role in influencing the direction of pop in general or the subcategory the artist or band was pioneering. And third, I favor songs with aspects that long puzzled readers.” (p. 3)
This book is a sequel to Marc Meyers’ Anatomy of a Song (you can read my review here). How many of these songs do you remember?
I apologize for the scrambled Table of Contents.
TABLE OF CONTENTS: (SCRAMBLED!)
34 Nobody Does It Better Carly Simon p. 227
35 Peg Steely Dan p. 233
36 My Best Friend’s Girl The Cars p. 239
4 Good Vibrations The Beach Boys p. 273
7 The Gambler Kenny Rogers p. 247
38 September Earth, Wind & Fire p. 253
39 WHat A Fool Believes The Doobie Brothers p. 259
40 Accidents Will Happen Elvis Costello p. 265
41 The Devil Went Down to Georgia The Charlie Daniels Band p. 271
42 Good Times Chic p. 277
43 Highway to Hell AC/DC p. 283
44 Cars Gary Numan p. 289
45 On the Radio Donna Summer p. 295
46 Bad Reputation Joan Jett p. 301
5 Up, Up and Away The 5th Dimension p. 35
47 Rapture Blondie p. 307
48 Don’t Stop Believin’ Journey p. 315
49 Steppin’ Out Joe Jackson p. 321
50 Burning Down the House Talking Heads p. 327
51 The Power of Love Huey Lewis and the News p. 335
52 Small Town John Mellencamp p. 341
53 Take It So Hard Keith Richards p. 347
54 Being Boring Pet Shop Boys p. 355
55 If It Makes You Happy Sheryl Crow p. 361
6 Get Together The Youngbloods p. 41
1 Walk On By Dionne Warwick p. 7
7 The Weight The Band p. 49
8 Fire The Crazy World of Arthur Brown p. 55
9 Bad Moon Rising Creedence Clearwater Revival p. 63
10 Crystal Blue Persuasion Tommy James and the Shondells p. 69
11 Ain’t No Mountain High Enough Diana Ross p. 75
12 Paranoid Black Sabbath p. 81
13 Truckin’ Grateful Dead p. 87
14 I’m Eighteen Alice Cooper p. 93
15 Bang a Gong (Get It On) T. Rex p. 101
16 Roundabout Yes p. 107
2 Dancing in the Street Martha and the Vandellas p. 13
17 Doctor My Eyes Jackson Browne p. 113
18 Long Cool Woman in a Black Dress The Hollies p. 119
19 Rocket Man Elton John p. 125
20 I’ll Be Around The Spinners p. 131
21 Papa Was a Rollin’ Stone The Temptations p. 137
22 Killing Me Softly with His Song Roberta Flack p. 143
23 Smoke on the Water Deep Purple p. 151
24 Hello It’s Me Todd Rundgren p. 159
25 She’s Gone Hall & Oates p. 165
26 Come and Get Your Love Redbone p. 173
3 Sunshine Superman Donovan p. 21
27 Sundown Gordon Lightfoot p. 179
28 I’m Not In Love 10cc p. 185
29 Love Is the Drug Roxy Music p. 193
30 The Boys Are Back in Town Thin Lizzy p. 199
31 Fly Like an Eagle Steve Miller Band p. 207
32 Year of the Cat Al Stewart p. 213
33 Barracuda Heart p. 219
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS — 367
Brit chart hits, I gather.
Not really. Come and Get Your Love never charted in Britain.
Well, a number never charted in the US, as well…at very least, not above the nether reaches. Canadian charts? Am I trying too hard to justify a nonsensical concept-claim?
Ah, I see now, having read George’s new post more closely. Yes, he’s working a bullshit set of premises to write about songs he presumably likes.
Todd, Marc Myers does say getting singers and songwriters to talk about their old songs isn’t easy. They prefer to talk about their current songs.
What’s his underlying reason for selecting these particular songs? He’s got everything from “Paranoid” by Black Sabbath to “Take It So Hard” by Keith Richards to “Nobody Does It Better” by Carly Simon. I can’t figure out what links them all.
Deb, when I complete my post to ANATOMY OF 55 MORE SONGS, I’ll have the answer. WORDPRESS ambushed me this morning by posting reviews I was working on for next week. This demonic software has it out for me!
I’ve never heard of this guy. And even though I slogged through the list (which is VERY hard to read in this format) I’m still not sure what this is all about. I do like most of the songs, though.
Michael, my complete review of ANATOMY OF 55 MORE SONGS will be up on the blog on Monday. WORDPRESS unleashed a new form of torment by posting reviews I was working on for next week. I’m pissed!
On my top 10 (or at least 25) list of Worst Songs Ever (that were big hits):
The Gambler
I do like a lot of the others.
Jeff, I like a lot of the other songs, too, as you’ll find out on Monday when the complete post of ANATOMY OF 55 MORE SONGS appears WHEN IT SHOULD! Blast WORDPRESS and its evil ways!
Not a bad list of songs. Although I detest The Gambler, What A Fool Believes, The Devil Came Down to Georgia, Killing Me Softly With this Song, and a couple others.
Steve, I’m always interested in how songs came about: the production, the writing, the instrumentation, etc. Even songs I don’t particularly care for can have a fascinating origin story.
Forget to mention The Power of Love by Huey Lewis and the News. I just hated them with a passion. Almost as bad as Eddie Money.
You’re right, Steve. I remember that while reading AMERICAN PSYCHO by Bret Easton Ellis I judged Patrick Bateman more harshly for being a Huey Lewis fan than for being a serial killer.
I know every song in this list—and like, even love, a number of them. Now that I know the author’s criteria, I can understand a little better why he chose the songs he did. The selection that surprises me is “Take It So Hard” by Keith Richards (from his first solo album, “Talk Is Cheap”): I think it’s a great song, but I’m not sure it even charted.
Deb, I suspect some of the songs are in ANATOMY OF 55 MORE SONGS simply because Marc Myers was able to get someone like Keith Richards to talk about the song. Some of these song might be included because circumstances made the information available.
I might know more if I heard them. Maybe half are familiar.
Patti, I’m fascinated by the changes that happen to songs during the recording process and ANATOMY OF 55 MORE SONGS provides plenty of examples.
I know 45 of 55, but then I’m older than Deb!
A lot of how you feel about a song is based on where you were in terms of age, etc. when it first came out, not to mention where the world was. Some I’d put on my list include September, Burning Down the House, Get Together, Walk on By, The Weight (have many versions), Bad Moon Rising, I’ll Be Around.
As much as I loved the original Marvin Gaye/Tammi Terrell version of Ain’t No Mountain High Enough, that doesn’t come close to how much I hate Diane Ross’s remake. Yuck.
You had my favorite Steely Dan song (Deacon Blues) in his first book.
Jeff, I’m glad Marc Myers included Steely Dan songs in both of his books! Walter Becker, Donald Fagen, and producer Gary Katz were marvelous in the recording studio!
An interesting collection of songs considered here, George.
I always enjoy background stuff on music, books, movies, etc. I haven’t read all the books I own but I can probably relate stories on how many of those books ended up in my possession. There are lots of book hunting stories from those good, old days.
This is definitely worth a look. Given the short chapters, this is a good bathroom or car book candidate.
Beth, you’re absolutely right: I read most of ANATOMY OF 55 MORE SONGS while Diane was running various errands (and I stayed in the car and read my book) and having to wait around for routine doctor’s appointments. Short chapters worked great for this kind of activity! Of course, I have a couple “backup” books in my car at all times!
Great list of songs! It would make for an interesting, and at times very odd, playlist, especially if listened to on shuffle so you didn’t know what was going to come next.
Carl, you’re right about this being an odd mix of songs, but Myers does a terrific job telling how they came about.