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

After a week of High Anxiety as Damar Hamlin dealt with the aftermath of having collapsed during the Monday Night Game in Cincinnati from cardiac arrest, the Bills–now buoyed by Hamlin’s remarkable recovery–face the motivated New England Patriots in the final game of the regular season. The Bills are 7-point favorites, but under the new Goodell Playoff rules, the outcome of this game is virtually meaningless. How will your favorite NFL team do today?

Two NFL Saturday games with Playoff implications. The Kansas City Chiefs are favored by 9 points over the hapless Raiders in the first game. But, a Chiefs win now puts the Chiefs into a position where they would get a First Round Bye as a result of the suspended (for ever!) Bills vs. Bengals game.

The second game is one of those “Win and You’re In” games. The Tennessee Titans, favored by 6 1/2 points, can go to the Playoffs if they defeat the Jacksonville Jaguars. But, the Jaguars, dismissed as hopeless early in the season, can punch their Playoff entry ticket with an unlikely win over the Titans. Who do you think will win these games?

With The Killing Run (1975) and Philadelphia Blowup (1975) Stark House completes the reprinting of the Barry N. Malzberg (aka, “Mike Barry”) Lone Wolf series–a magnificent publishing achievement!

The Killing Run, the 13th book in the series, is the penultimate story in the deadly odyssey of ex-New York narcotics cop Burt Wulff, Barry N. Malzberg’s agent of vengeance on the drug trade. Like a black mist of Death, Wulff sweeps through the thugs, murderers, and psychopaths who defend the vast drug network with merciless mayhem.

In 1972, Malzberg’s Beyond Apollo, winner of the inaugural John W. Campbell Award for best science fiction novel, displayed many of the stylistic and innovative narrative techniques on display in The Killing Run. GRADE: B+

Philadelphia Blowup, the 14th and final novel in the Lone Wolf series, wraps up Malzberg’s saga of one man’s breakdown into psychosis after a murderous rampage. The Lone Wolf series stands as a cautionary contrast to Don Pendelton’s The Executioner and the men’s action genre.

The success of Don Pendleton’s Executioner series in the early 1970s spawned a number of imitators: the Destroyer, Killinger, the Penetrator, the Butcher, and Coxeman. Like Mack Bolan, the Executioner, these other lethal killing machines are one-man armies obsessed with violence as their preferred method of conflict resolution.

From the first book in The Lone Wolf series, Night Raider (1973), where Malzberg unleashes a tidal wave of ferocity extending over 14 volumes leading to a terrifying storm surge of sudden death. The city by city battles end in a catastrophic climax of Burt Wulff’s murderous crusade, the vengeance and retribution for the death of Wulff’s girlfriend–Marie Calvante–from an overdose in a Manhattan brownstone, all of which produces a staggering body-count.

The Lone Wolf saga stands high above the dozens of Executioner clones, now mostly forgotten. Like a modern day Ahab, Burt Wulff takes his killing quest to a deadly showdown with drug lords and a drug culture that still menace America. Don’t miss this epic tale of obsession and fury! GRADE: A

THE LONE WOLF SERIES:
   1. Night Raider (1973) (as by Mike Barry)
   2. Bay Prowler (1973) (as by Mike Barry)
   3. Boston Avenger (1973) (as by Mike Barry)
   4. Desert Stalker (1973) (as by Mike Barry)
   5. Havana Hit (1974) (as by Mike Barry)
   6. Chicago Slaughter (1974) (as by Mike Barry)
   7. Peruvian Nightmare (1974) (as by Mike Barry)
   8. Los Angeles Holocaust (1975) (as by Mike Barry)
   9. Miami Marauder (1974) (as by Mike Barry)
   10. Harlem Showdown (1975) (as by Mike Barry)
   11. Detroit Massacre (1975) (as by Mike Barry)
   12. Phoenix Inferno (1975) (as by Mike Barry)
   13. The Killing Run (1975) (as by Mike Barry)
   14. Philadelphia Blow-Up (1975) (as by Mike Barry

Last month, while searching for a 1950s CD that might satisfy Michael Padgett’s legitimate observation about the paucity of Fifties music on this blog, I found At the Diner which isn’t exactly a 1950s music CD, but has some Fifties music as well as early 1960s music on it (so I went with The Rock ‘n’ Roll Era: 1959, you can read my review here).

I suppose the concept of At the Diner is to feature music you might have heard Back in the Day at a diner that had a jukebox full of hit records. While plenty of these songs made the Billboard Top 10, there are a few more obscure and seldom played hits here like “Way Down Yonder in New Orleans.” When was the last time you heard that song?

Or, “Red River Rock” by Johnny and The Hurricanes. I hope these songs jog some memories and bring back reminiscences of Good Times! What better to start off a New Year! How many of these songs do you remember? GRADE: B+

TRACK LIST:

1	Bill Haley & The Comets*–	Rock Around The Clock Written-By – DeKnight*, Freedman
2	Jerry Lee Lewis–	Great Balls Of Fire Written-By – Hammer*, Blackwell
3	Fats Domino–	Blueberry Hill Written-By – Lewis*, Stock*, Rose
4	Del Shannon–	Runaway Written-By – Shannon*, Crook
5	Chris Montez–	Let’s Dance Written-By – Lee
6	Kingsman*–	Louie Louie Written-By – Berry
7	Freddy Cannon–	Way Down Yonder In New Orleans Written-By – Creamer*, Layton
8	Everly Brothers–	Bird Dog Written-By – Bryant
9	Crickets*–	Peggy Sue Written-By – Holly*, Allison*, Petty
10	Buddy Knox–	Party Doll Written-By – Knox*, Bowen*
11	Chuck Berry–	Roll Over Beethoven Written-By – Berry*
12	Little Richard–	Tutti Fruitti Written-By – La Bostrie*, Lubin*, Penniman
13	Carl Perkins–	Matchbox Written-By – Perkins
14	Duane Eddy–	Rebel Rouser Written-By – Eddy*, Hazlewood
15	Gene Vincent–	Be Bop A Lula Written-By – Vincent*, Davis
16	Johnny & The Hurricanes*–	Red River Rock Arranged By – Mendelsohn*, Mack*, King *Written-By – Trad
17	Bobby Darin–	Mack The Knife Arranged By – Blitzstein*Written-By – Brecht*, Weill
18	Platters*–	The Great Pretender Written-By – Ram*
19	Tokens*–	La Bamba Written-By – Valens
20	Elvis Presley–	That’s All Right Mama Written-By – Crudup

It was supposed to be the biggest game of Week 17 and a possible preview of a future Playoff game. Bills quarterback Josh Allen and Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow had never met in an NFL game before this highly hyped Monday Night Football game.

But just before the end of the first quarter, Bills defensive back Damar Hamlin collapsed on the field following a hard tackle on Bengals receiver Tee Higgins. Hamlin stood up after the tackle and immediately collapsed.

Fortunately, medical personnel rushed out on the field, discovered Hamlin wasn’t breathing, and performed CPR on him for 10 minutes. They also used a defibrillator to get a pulse.

While the medics worked on Hamlin, both Bill players and Bengal players gathered and shared grief over their fallen comrade. Bills Head Coach drew his team together for a pray for Hamlin as the ambulance took Hamlin to the hospital.

We all knew football was a violent sport. This shocking incident just proved it in front of 70,000 fans at the stadium and millions of viewers on TV.

It was hellish in 2022: 236,708 Americans died of Covid-19, there were 600 mass shootings including one in Buffalo, NY where a White Supremacist shot and killed 10 people in a grocery store.

The Supreme Court ignored 50 years of legal precedent and overruled Roe v. Wade immediately canceling the rights of women to make decisions about their health. Vladimir Putin decided to invade Ukraine. Over 20,000 Ukrainian soldiers died, 40,000 civilians were butchered by Russian troops. But the gritty Ukrainians fought back with the help the U.S. and EU supplying advanced weapons. The result was 100,000 Russian causalities and a series of defeats. Time Magazine named Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky and “the spirit of Ukraine” as its 2022 Person of the Year. 

We also lost Rick Robinson, a long-time commentator on this blog. All we have of Rick now is our memories of his insightful comments. But it will be some time before they fade.

On the Plus Side, the 2022 Midterm Elections, projected by Republicans to be a “Red Wave” turned into a “Red Trickle.” The Democrats held the Senate and won many House seats they were expected to lose. “Candidate Quality”–mostly losers chosen by Trump–became an issue for the GOP.

The House Select Jan. 6 panel investigating the Assault on the Capitol–initially dismissed as a “political stunt”–delivered riveting TV drama exposing Trump’s attempt to overturn the 2020 Election. I disagree with Liz Cheney on just about every political issue, but she called the Republican Party out for their fecklessness and condemned former President Trump as “an enemy of the Constitution”. You have to admire Liz Cheney for sacrificing her career to defend Democracy.

Amid all this chaos, the wit and wisdom of Patti, Jeff, Deb, Richard, Beth, Todd, Art, Willam, Maggie, Bob, Tracy, Carl, Lauren, Steve, Jerry, Wolf, Stan, Dan, Neeru, Michael, Byron, Elgin, Angela, Scott, Jim, John, Kevin, Randy, James, Kent, Fred, and Matthew as well as all of you who make this blog a part of your day brought hope and sanity in these times of despair and outrage and frustration.

Thank you, thank you very much.

The 12-3 Buffalo Bills are 1-point favorites over the 11-4 Cincinnati Bengals on Monday Night Football tonight. Should be a close game since this game affects Playoff slotting for both teams. Go Bills!

“Along with greenness and wonder of a country boy, I landed at JFK International Airport with a head full of lice and a belly full of tropical parasites. In many respects, I was an unlikely candidate for the Ivy League.” (p. 5)

Roosevelt Montas, a Dominican-born immigrant who lands in Queens, New York poor but eager to learn, finds a stack of books put out in front a brownstone for Garbage Day. Amazed that Americans would throw books away, Months picks up two books from the stack: one by Socrates, one by Shakespeare. Surprisingly, the book by Socrates unleashes a need in Montas to go to college. Columbia University accepts Mantas and he goes through the Great Books program when students read a classic book every week.

Although Mantas loved most of the Great Books–except for Aristotle–he focuses on the impact reading Saint Augustine, Socrates, Freud, and Gandi had on him. Behind the descriptions of these classic works, Mantas defends the idea that college students should read Great Books and not just study the subjects that will get them jobs when they graduate.

When I was teaching, I would slip some Great Books into my syllabi–Dicken’s Bleak House and Hard Times were favorites of my students–but most professors just stick to their subject matter and don’t attempt to expand the curriculum.

Roosevelt Montas, from 2008-2018, was director of Columbia’s Center for the Core Curriculum. He advocated for the Great Books he admires. Rescuing Socrates is a love letter to readers who love these wonderful books. GRADE: B+

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

Introduction: The Case — 1

Chapter 1. Turning My Attention Back to Myself: Saint Augustine — 21

Chapter 2. The Examined Life: Socrates, Plato, and a Little Bit of Aristotle — 66

Chapter 3. Making Peace with the Unconscious: Freud — 113

Chapter 4. Truth Is God: Gandhi — 162

Epilogue: Nuts and Bolts — 210

Acknowledgments — 227

Index — 233