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College Countdown: CMJ Top 250 Songs, 1979 – 1989, 160 – 158

Dan Seeger

160. Patti Smith, “People Have the Power” When “People Have the Power” arrived, nearly a decade had passed without any new music from Patti Smith. She’d been effectively living in semi-retirement while starting a family with the man she married in 1980, Fred “Sonic” Smith, a punk icon in his own right thanks to his tenure in the foundational band the MC5. According to Patti, it was Fred who started her on the road to the song when he marched into the kitchen and said, “People have the power. Write it.” Armed with only that title, Patti embarked on a … Continue reading College Countdown: CMJ Top 250 Songs, 1979 – 1989, 160 – 158

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A Week of Fridays: Sugar, “A Good Idea”

Dan Seeger

This coming weekend, I will take to the airwaves of WWSP-90FM, my college radio alma mater, as part of their annual reunion weekends. It will be my first time presiding over a radio program in nine years and my first time on 90FM in over fifteen years. I commemoration, I’m devoting this week to slightly displaced “One for Friday” posts, touching on each of my five years as a student broadcaster. To borrow a line from Robyn Hitchcock, “I didn’t write these songs; they wrote me.” I took my time getting through college. I didn’t want to leave. Sure, a certain fear of … Continue reading A Week of Fridays: Sugar, “A Good Idea”

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A Week of Fridays: The Smithereens, “Top of the Pops”

Dan Seeger

This coming weekend, I will take to the airwaves of WWSP-90FM, my college radio alma mater, as part of their annual reunion weekends. It will be my first time presiding over a radio program in nine years and my first time on 90FM in over fifteen years. I commemoration, I’m devoting this week to slightly displaced “One for Friday” posts, touching on each of my five years as a student broadcaster. To borrow a line from Robyn Hitchcock, “I didn’t write these songs; they wrote me.” Other bands meant more to me personally and yet others were more dominant on the WWSP-90FM airwaves, … Continue reading A Week of Fridays: The Smithereens, “Top of the Pops”

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A Week of Fridays: Too Much Joy, “King of Beers”

Dan Seeger

This coming weekend, I will take to the airwaves of WWSP-90FM, my college radio alma mater, as part of their annual reunion weekends. It will be my first time presiding over a radio program in nine years and my first time on 90FM in over fifteen years. I commemoration, I’m devoting this week to slightly displaced “One for Friday” posts, touching on each of my five years as a student broadcaster. To borrow a line from Robyn Hitchcock, “I didn’t write these songs; they wrote me.” I’ve written about Too Much Joy’s Cereal Killers before, detailing my chilled-to-the-bone quest through the record stores … Continue reading A Week of Fridays: Too Much Joy, “King of Beers”

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A Week of Fridays: The Primitives, “Sick of It”

Dan Seeger

This coming weekend, I will take to the airwaves of WWSP-90FM, my college radio alma mater, as part of their annual reunion weekends. It will be my first time presiding over a radio program in nine years and my first time on 90FM in over fifteen years. I commemoration, I’m devoting this week to slightly displaced “One for Friday” posts, touching on each of my five years as a student broadcaster. To borrow a line from Robyn Hitchcock, “I didn’t write these songs; they wrote me.” Tracy Tracy hung over the beat up old mattress in my college bedroom. Well, she was there in … Continue reading A Week of Fridays: The Primitives, “Sick of It”

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A Week of Fridays: Violent Femmes, “Fool in the Full Moon”

Dan Seeger

This coming weekend, I will take to the airwaves of WWSP-90FM, my college radio alma mater, as part of their annual reunion weekends. It will be my first time presiding over a radio program in nine years and my first time on 90FM in over fifteen years. I commemoration, I’m devoting this week to slightly displaced “One for Friday” posts, touching on each of my five years as a student broadcaster. To borrow a line from Robyn Hitchcock, “I didn’t write these songs; they wrote me.”   My inaugural year at WWSP-90FM was a whirlwind. I was atypically forthright in inserting myself into the station … Continue reading A Week of Fridays: Violent Femmes, “Fool in the Full Moon”

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College Countdown: CMJ Top 250 Songs, 1979 – 1989, 163 – 161

Dan Seeger

163. The House of Love, “Christine” Released in 1988, “Christine” was the third single by the London-based band the House of Love, but it was the one that made all the difference. Their first two releases, “Shine On” and “Real Animal,” sold softly, and there was a clear sense that their label, Creation Records, was close to slotting them in the interesting failure category. The label was reportedly weighing whether or not to fund a third single when the band delivered an attention-getting live performance at London’s the Town & Country Club. Wanting to capitalize on that buzz, Creation sent the House of … Continue reading College Countdown: CMJ Top 250 Songs, 1979 – 1989, 163 – 161

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One for Friday: World Party, “Put the Message in the Box”

Dan Seeger

World Party had a Top 40 hit while I was in high school, pushing into the hallowed portion of the U.S. charts with “Ship of Fools,” their first single. Presumably, then, that song and the album it derives from, Private Revolution, represent the high water mark for the band Karl Wallinger started after he walked away from the Waterboys. My memory shapes the history a little differently, though. I remain highly susceptible to mentally enhancing the value of those albums that arrived sometimes during my first couple of years at my college radio station. That’s partially due to nostalgia, but it … Continue reading One for Friday: World Party, “Put the Message in the Box”

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The Art of the Sell: Freedom Rock

Dan Seeger

These posts celebrate the movie trailers, movie posters, commercials, print ads, and other promotional material that stand as their own works of art.  When I was in college, I wasn’t exact smooth with the ladies. I was fervently devoted to the things which stirred my soul, and none of them — college rock, comic books, movies, comedy, baseball, politics, spiteful modern novels — exactly tagged me as a “catch.” While I considered myself lucky to find a cadre of pals who supported my dorkish ways, that mutual support occasionally compounded the problem. That preamble brings us to the sad tale of … Continue reading The Art of the Sell: Freedom Rock