Wm. Harris

Hounds of Love

Never watched it, but I sure remember seeing ads (and maybe a Close Up?) for it in TV Guide. That was haunting enough.

Songs Casey Never Played, 2/21/76 The second monthly installment in a year-long project; the object each time is to learn a half-dozen “new” songs from half-a-century ago. 98. Dan Hill, “Growing Up”Hill&#821…

Another set of six songs from 50 years ago that didn't break through sufficiently:
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American Top 40 PastBlast, 2/21/76: Larry Groce, “Junk Food Junkie” I noted several years ago that the first time I can distinctly recall listening to American Top 40 from the beginning was for that of the 3/6/76 show, when Sweet’s “Action” kicked…

Marking 50 years of being aware of American Top 40 by noting a guy who re-entered my life much later with his recordings of children's songs.
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Stereo Review In Review: February 1982 Here’s what SR had on offer when I was a senior in HS. If it’s a February issue, that means this peek back in time includes the critics’ top picks from the previous year. Albums o…

Thumbs up: Seger, Buckingham, Crimson
Thumbs down: Garfunkel, the Dead, and Mr. Loaf.

All that, plus the best listens of '81, are in:
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American Top 40 PastBlast, 2/9/74: Cher, “Dark Lady” A number of the music/comedy/variety series of the 70s received at least some play in my house while I was growing up. Mac Davis, Jim Stafford, Tony Orlando & Dawn, Donny & Marie–even…

Tidbits from 70s variety shows that never shook loose from my brain.
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Modern Rock Tracks, 2/3/96 Without quite outright saying so to each other, Martha and I both knew as 1996 dawned that it was time to think seriously about uniting in marriage. We had done a tiny bit of engagement ring shoppi…

Words I did not utter 30 years ago this evening: "Maybe you're gonna be the one to save me."
Words I DID utter 30 years ago this evening: "Will you marry me?"
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Think I meant “exploits” there…

What I think I remember about Dalbec’s recent foibles in MLB suggests he could match Geno’s K rate, anyway.

Downtown is such a great album.

Thank you for the kind words and glad you liked the music! I really enjoy expanding my own musical universe with these dives.

Knew there was the possibility of a comment, inward or otherwise (blushes and sighs)…

Songs Casey Never Played, 1/24/76 1976 was a watershed year for me musically. I bought my first 45s and my first LP, but of greatest importance was discovering American Top 40 and subsequently keeping track of what Casey counted do…

Gonna take a monthly look at some neglected songs from half-a-century ago this year. Here's the first installment:
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American Top 40 PastBlast, 1/7/78: Steely Dan, “Peg” As the calendar turned to 1978, I was ready to get back to a formal chart-keeping routine. My AT40 lists throughout the last two months of ’77 had been slapdash efforts, initially due to suff…

Songs that rang in the new year almost half a century ago:
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Coming this year in my MRT series!

Casey tells about the Mamas & Papas reunion on the 9/18/82 show. IIRC the Mamas wound up being Mackenzie Phillips and Spanky McFarlane.

An adjunct who was teaching a couple sections of stats for my dept this fall flew a balloon (not Smokey, sad to say) in that competition.

Songs Casey Never Played, 12/16/78 Seems like there are always short stories to tell about many of the songs/artists that didn’t gain enough steam to merit a slot on American Top 40. Here are six of ’em from the tail end…

Maybe one of these was the final song someone out there heard in 1978? Regardless, here are six tunes that are among the last I'm listening to this year, 47 years on.
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Those first tapes disappeared--perhaps quickly--but the thrill of taping songs off the radio lasted through high school, and making mix tapes was a passion for many a year later on. I'm so grateful to my parents for the nudge they inadvertently gave on 12/25/75.

Wishes for a great Christmas to all.

We took the recorder with us to the family gathering at my grandparents' farmhouse. After dinner, Amy, my cousin Alan, and I recorded a goofy "skit" or two; we also taped songs off WSAI-AM. Two I recall in particular were "Bennie and the Jets" and the smash hit of the moment, "Convoy."

Fifty years ago today my sister and I received a portable tape recorder for Christmas. It came with a 10-minute cassette (yes, 5 minutes per side) on which my father, posing as Santa, recorded a brief greeting. We also got a couple of longer blanks, probably 60-minute tapes.

As you know, said fandom would have been just in time for return of Rose and a string of 2nd place finishes (plus, Eric Davis!).

There was a period of a few weeks late summer ‘78 when “Fool (If You Think It’s Over)” was almost certainly my favorite song. The 45 got plenty of play chez moi, for sure.

Past and current seasonal practices collide in an attempt to make the title of Kate's song a prophecy.

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It’s the 25th anniversary of Kirsty’s tragic death. This is a wonderful overview of her career.

Do you recall what you thought of the venue? Saw Aimee Mann there in the spring of ‘22. It’s in a cute-ish neighborhood as I remember.

He told the story during the song’s run on the chart, the 5/1/76 show (date according to my Battistini book).

Modern Rock Tracks, 12/2/95 As the end of 1995 approached, I was finishing up my seventh semester at Georgetown. The thing I remember most about that term now was the geometry class I taught. I’d picked an idiosyncratic…

While mid-90s alternative played, a Christmas tradition was born...
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11 titles total (I think), but most on LP or cassette only.

American Top 40 PastBlast, 12/1/79: Daryl Hall and John Oates, “Wait for Me” 8/12/79: It’s Sunday morning, and I’m hearing voices. More accurately, the voices of folks around me in the hotel restaurant and the swimming pool area sound just like those of people I know, which…

From five years ago: a treatise on high school crushes and odd memories. Happy Wait for Me Day.
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