Mark Stratton's Blog: AGGASPLETCH, page 10

91. 1982 – Randy Travis (iPod Challenge)

Up until late 1985 what I knew about Country Music you could put in a thimble. That changed when I took my first full time radio job as a disc jockey at KWRT/KDBX in Boonville, MO. It was an AM/FM Combo that simulcast that was on the air from 6 AM until 10 PM that played Country, Farm Reports and that mainstay of small town radio, The Party Line. A half hour call in show where people would call for goods, services and things they were looking for. KDBX is no longer part of the station, nor do...

92. Didn’t He – PFR (iPod Challenge)

Sometimes, Contemporary Christian Music isn’t aimed outward. There are times when a song is aimed at those already believing congregants sitting in the pews. Keith Green made a career out of this back in the 70′s with such albums as “So You Want To Go Back To Egypt?” and the like. Other artists have taken up similar notions over the years, including PFR back in the 90′s with their song “Didn’t He” from their debut album “Pray For Rain“.

A song with the message pointed inward, it asks the quest...

93. Katmandu – Bob Seger (iPod Challenge)

I was 11 years old the summer of 1975. We’d moved to Ann Arbor the year before and I was starting to listen to my own radio station instead of just the one Dad listened to. Starting to like and enjoy music independent of my parent’s taste.

I remember hearing that one measure open, then Seger sing,

“I think I’m going to Katmandu…”

Man, I wanted to along because it sounded adventurous, a grand time. That I didn’t know what the song was about or where Katmandu was didn’t matter. All I knew was “Oh...

94. Hello Mr. Jenkins – The Finns (iPod Challenge)

Art is not only a form of self-expression or way to communicate what you see, but a way to broaden the vision of others. It can be used to convey ideas so they seep in over time. Music brought this to the fore in the protest songs of the 1960′s that crossed over into public consciousness. While there haven’t been as many songs with a social welfare or political bent to them in the past couple of decades, there are still a few here and there.

From around 1989 through 1995 in St. Louis, Missouri...

95. Burning Love – Travis Tritt (iPod Challenge)

I love cover songs. Hearing how one artist rein-visions another’s song is fascinating. They bring their influences, predilections and tastes to the song creating something wholly new. It should be noted that some covers work much better than others. This is one of my particular favorites.

Back in 1992 the movie “Honeymoon in Vegas” gave us the question “Flying Elvis’” or “Flying Elvi” along with Nicholas Cage & Sarah Jessica Parker in a silly rom-com. Also, it gave us an interesting soundtrack...

1st Bonus Song – Do You Think I’m Disco – Steve Dahl (iPod Challenge)

So yeah, late 70′s and Disco is all over the place. Seems everyone was doing some sort of disco thing somewhere. It couldn’t really be escaped in the popular culture. Eventually, it became too much of a good (?) thing, just too much period. Revolt was in the air.

We could argue all day about the root causes, but that wouldn’t get us anywhere. What I can say is that I personally liked some of the disco music, had a few 45′s and enjoyed roller skating to them (being too young for clubs). Still,...

96. Le Disko – Shiny Toy Guns (iPod Challenge)

“Hello Little Boys, Little Toys..”

Not words I heard a lot growing up on the radio, that’s for sure. Then again, why shouldn’t a female singer utter such words, right?

I’ve no bloody idea how I came across this group or the album, but I bought “We Are Pilots” not long after it came out and was smitten with the combination of electronic sounds, disco beat and familiarity from something I’d never heard before. In short, these kids were talented and it showed. That impression was only strengthened...

97. Tear-Stained Letter – Jo-El Sonnier (iPod Challenge)

When I was working in Country Radio in the late 80′s and early 90′s, I learned a lot about Country Music (both kinds, in fact; Country & Western). Up until then, all I knew was a few bars from snippets of songs from some TV Record album commercial. Seems like that collection was sold on TV about as long as Slim Whitman and Boxcar Willie records.

That time was also a period of great change in the genre. The dying gasps of “The Nashville Sound” or “Countrypolitan” were being heard as the sound w...

98. Cuts You Up – Peter Murphy (iPod Challenge)

Sometimes you just hear a song that grabs you and doesn’t want to let go on the radio, the PA at the grocery store, a friends house, the jukebox or where ever. In a way, it sort of slaps you, getting your attention and you have to know who the singer is. This is what happened when “Cuts You Up” came on the radio a year or three ago. It happened when I was driving, so my usual way of finding out about the song (the app Shazam) could be dangerous. So, like a crazed fool I found a parking lot, p...

99. Blue Collar – Bachman-Turner Overdrive (iPod Challenge)

Some songs just worm their way into your soul over time. They become a part of the psychological DNA that is unique as your physical DNA. For me, this is one of those songs.

I couldn’t swear to it, but I think I first heard the song was also the first time I listened to the cassette tape of the optimistically (but premature, it turns out) titled “Best of (So Far)” that I’d bought in downtown Ann Arbor. I’m guessing I bought it at either the old Musicland or Wazoo Records, but it doesn’t really...