Hello all, and welcome back for another edition of What I'm Listening To! This month, I decided to go a familiar route. In the past, I did a blog post of songs with women's names in the title. This month, I went songs that included a man's name. Unsurprisingly, there are quite a couple good ones.
"Stan" - Eminem (The Marshall Mathers LP)
Eminem is one of the most successful rappers in the last 30 years. He has a myriad of hit songs under his belt, but one of the more memorable ones was taken from The Marshall Mathers LP. "Stan" is a story song that is about a rabid fan named Stan who writes Eminem frequently. At first, Stan is a lucid and rational individual, but by the end he has fallen over the deep end into madness.
"Johnny B. Goode" - Chuck Berry (The London Chuck Berry Sessions)'
Chuck Berry was a pioneer in early Rock n' Roll, and many artists to this day credit him as an influence to their music. In a crazy tangent, when I was in college a guy escaped the jail in Big Rapids and broke into my fraternity house...and holed up in my room while we were all away on Thanksgiving break. That man's name? John Good. I had to testify in court he wore my clothes. Fun times.
The London Chuck Berry Sessions
"Jessie's Girl" - Rick Springfield (Big Hits)
This is by far Rick's most popular song. The song itself tells the tale of a guy who falls for his best friend's girl. He thinks he can treat her better, and is just head over heels for her. The guitar riffs in this are jumpy and fun, as are Rick's vocals. Perfect 1980's song.
"Bad, Bad Leroy Brown" - Jim Croce (The Definitive Croce)
I love Jim Croce. This guy pumped out so many hits in a short period of time. His voice is soothing, the acoustic guitar is great, and the songs are so, so good. He had this way of storytelling in songs that you just don't see anymore. The music itself is upbeat, and flows really well. If you aren't tapping your foot or hand while listening to this, then I don't know what to tell you. Jim Croce, gone too soon.
"Movin' Out (Anthony's Song)" - Billie Joel (The Essential Billie Joel)
I rock out to Billie at least once a month. Generally when I'm cooking, I'll hook up my phone to my stereo system, and just let the hit songs play one after another. If you've read my previous blog posts, you know how much I LOVE singers who also play piano (i.e. Alicia Keys, Stevie Wonder, Elton John). I really don't need to add anything here, besides you should probably already be listening to this right now!
That's all she wrote on another edition of What I'm Listening To. And remember, if it sounds good, groove to the music!
