Category: Music

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One for Friday: Dolly Mixture, “How Come You’re Such a Hit with the Boys, Jane?”

Dan Seeger

As must happen from time to time, I have a “Jane” song to share. To the best of my knowledge, I never played a song by Dolly Mixture during my college radio days, but I wish I would have. Their sound was precisely what I hoped to discover when I dug deeply into the most obscure records in the radio station’s music library, finding those old releases that perhaps hadn’t been touched in years but exhibited a wear-and-tear in the packaging that suggested they were once deeply loved. Had a Dolly Mixture album been in our stacks, how could it … Continue reading One for Friday: Dolly Mixture, “How Come You’re Such a Hit with the Boys, Jane?”

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CMJ Top 250 Songs, 1979 – 1989, 82 – 80

Dan Seeger

82. R.E.M., “So. Central Rain (I’m Sorry)” R.E.M. made their U.S. network television debut on Late Night with David Letterman, in October 1983. The band’s debut album, Murmur, had been in stores for about six months, and it naturally made sense for them to play “Radio Free Europe,” the single that became a smash on college radio and even managed to — somewhat inexplicably — cross over into the Billboard Hot 100. They did, but there was time for them to run through another song. After Letterman briefly interviewed the band about their hometown music scene (“Why all of sudden Athens, … Continue reading CMJ Top 250 Songs, 1979 – 1989, 82 – 80

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One for Friday: All, “She’s My Ex”

Dan Seeger

As is probably evident by now, the number of songs from my college radio days that I consider worthy of filing under the category of “favorites” could fill a full programming day. There are those that were clear peaks of beloved bands and there are those that snuck up on me over time, snuggling into my psyche following the discovery and championing of my valued cohorts. Then there are those songs that arrived as fully-formed, undeniable (to me) triumphs. From the moment the needle first hit the vinyl or the laser first struck the disc, the song was clearly, thrillingly … Continue reading One for Friday: All, “She’s My Ex”

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CMJ Top 250 Songs, 1979 – 1989, 85 – 83

Dan Seeger

85. The Sisters of Mercy, “This Corrosion” “This Corrosion” now stands so clearly as the signature song of the Sisters of Mercy that it’s easy to overlook that, in the chronology of the band, it was actually considered a comeback single. Shortly after the group had a couple of modest hits on the U.K. charts, in the mid-nineteen-eighties, they splintered apart. Guitarist Wayne Hussey and bassist Wayne Adams quickly formed a new group called the Mission. While they were making their own headway with British music fans, Sisters of Mercy lead singer Andrew Eldritch was largely absent from the scene, offer … Continue reading CMJ Top 250 Songs, 1979 – 1989, 85 – 83

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One for Friday: Randy Newman, “New Orleans Wins the War”

Dan Seeger

They started to party and they partied some more Cause New Orleans had won the war There are probably songs that should come to mind more quickly for me when I think of New Orleans — something steeped in the jazz, zydeco, or blues that serve as the city’s musical pulse. But, in truth, Randy Newman’s “New Orleans Wins the War” is the track that echoes up from my memory when I head out for another visit to the Crescent City. It’s probably because this was the first song about New Orleans that I truly embedded into my head — … Continue reading One for Friday: Randy Newman, “New Orleans Wins the War”

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CMJ Top 250 Songs, 1979 – 1989, 88 – 86

Dan Seeger

88. Eurythmics, “Would I Lie to You?” In 1985, when Eurythmics released their album Be Yourself Tonight, the safe bet would have involved creation of calculated echoes of “Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This),” their smash hit single from a couple years earlier. Doing so was anathema to the duo. “It’s just to do with the original concept of Eurythmics, which was to keep changing every situation all the time so it never got stale,” Dave Stewart explained while the album was still in its formative stages. “In order to make this album, we had to do a load of … Continue reading CMJ Top 250 Songs, 1979 – 1989, 88 – 86

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One for Friday: The Balancing Act, “This Is Where It All Begins”

Dan Seeger

As I’ve shared previously, I first played music from the Balancing Act because of magnets. In conjunction with the L.A. band’s second and, as it happened, last LP, Curtains, I.R.S. Records inundated college radio with a huge batch of refrigerator magnets. Sporting the band’s odd little logo, the magnets were scattered across practically every metal surface in my happy broadcasting outpost in Central Wisconsin. That included all of the door jambs. I couldn’t cross from one end of the station’s offices to the other without being remind multiple times about the Balancing Act. Luckily, I wasn’t being coerced into playing … Continue reading One for Friday: The Balancing Act, “This Is Where It All Begins”

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Top Ten Movies of 2016 — An Introduction

Dan Seeger

We can say this: 2016 was memorable. Aside from a history-making improbability delivered by the Chicago National League ball club in the fall, though, I’m confident most folks are going to look back at the those twelve months of broader global culture — popular, political, and social — with a measure of contempt. The only way 2016 doesn’t stand as a banner year for misery, is if 2017 is even worse. So far, it’s on track. A year so thoroughly scorched by overwhelmingly miserable news can make the very act of retrospective celebration feel hollow and pointless. And yet here we are. As … Continue reading Top Ten Movies of 2016 — An Introduction

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CMJ Top 250 Songs, 1979 – 1989, 91 – 89

Dan Seeger

91. The Replacements, “I Will Dare” Paul Westerberg had a “Stop the presses!” moment after he finished off songwriting chores on “I Will Dare,” though he would have been referring to the hydraulic presses that bring a vinyl record into shape. Hootenanny, the second full length album from Westerberg’s band the Replacements, was in its final mastering stage when he called up Peter Jesperson, head of the group’s record label. “I got a call from Paul saying, ‘I’ve just finished the best song I’ve ever written. We need to record it now,’” said Jesperson. “But the record was already done, so … Continue reading CMJ Top 250 Songs, 1979 – 1989, 91 – 89

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One for Friday: Ted Leo and the Pharmacists, “Loyal to My Sorrowful Country”

Dan Seeger

Ted Leo wrote “Loyal to My Sorrowful Country” in response to the first term of George W. Bush, another Republican president who took possession of the Oval Office despite receiving fewer votes than his opponent. Though “Now that Georgie’s reign’s begun” is right there in the lyrics, the track feels highly pertinent today. Though my name of bygone years In the land, in the land I’ll uproot it without tears And I’ll change it if I can And, no more shall I be loyal to my sorrowful country No more shall I be loyal to my sorrowful country Rousing, fierce, … Continue reading One for Friday: Ted Leo and the Pharmacists, “Loyal to My Sorrowful Country”