Some Songs Are Simply Too Much in One Way or Another

Remember those cold mornings in the movie "Groundhog Day" when Phil Connors (Bill Murray) wakes up to "I Got You Babe" on the radio alarm clock?

Nothing against the Sonny and Cher song but it's certainly not a tune I'd want to hear to start my day at 6 a.m. And there are other tunes that I've heard too much in my lifetime. They give me the shivers.

There are a few songs I really liked when they were released, but in my most humble opinion, they've been overplayed on the radio through the years. When they come on, I tune them out.

It would be a nightmarish "Twilight Zone" experience for me to be stranded on an island with the following songs blaring day after day after day.

Here's my list:

"Sympathy for the Devil" — The Rolling Stones 
"Ride Captain Ride" -- The Blues Image 
"The Devil Went Down to Georgia" — Charlie Daniels Band
"Money" — Pink Floyd
"American Pie" — Don McLean 
"Nights in White Satin" — The Moody Blues
"Dueling Banjos" — Eric Weissberg and Steve Mandell
"Piano Man" — Billy Joel
"Stairway to Heaven" — Led Zeppelin
"More Than A Feeling" — Boston
"Escape (The Pina Colada Song)" — Rupert Holmes 
"Bohemian Rhapsody" — Queen

And there are a few songs I didn't care that much for when released so they're automatically tuned out:

"Muskrat Love" — America and The Captain and Tennille 
"You Light Up My Life" — Debby Boone
"Tragedy" — The Bee Gees
"Band on the Run" — Paul McCartney and Wings
"You're Beautiful" — James Blunt

And then there are a few songs that are difficult to categorize because they can be like a virus and stick in your head all day:

"Achy Breaky Heart" — Billy Ray Cyrus
"The Final Countdown" — Europe
"Macarena" — Los Del Rio
"Party All the Time" — Eddie Murphy
"Anna (Go to Him)" — The Beatles
"The Candy Man Can" — Sammy Davis Jr.
"Hungry Like the Wolf" — Duran Duran

I'll spare you those irritating Christmas songs. Bah humbug!

Let me add that after not hearing overplayed songs for a while, I don't mind listening to them again. Just not an overdose. It can kill you!

Any songs that fit these criteria for you?

Until the next time . . . 


P.S. -- I'd appreciate it if you'd click the "Follow" button (far right column under "Followers" with all the pretty faces) since Google has eliminated more than 100 followers by shutting down Google+ extensions.

Fifty Years Ago Today -- The Beatles

Many of us in the United States are celebrating The Beatles today. It was 50 years ago that the Fab Four made their debut on the popular "The Ed Sullivan Show."

We didn't have cable or satellite TV in those dark black-and-white ages. It was the NBC, CBS, and ABC networks that ruled the airwaves.

On on that magical evening on  Feb. 9, 1964, John, Paul, George, and Ringo were in the spotlight, and Beatlemania was in full bloom.

I was at church with my family that eventful evening in Campbellsville, Ky. The one-hour service ended at 8; that's when the "The Ed Sullivan Show" was broadcast.

We hurried home to see the program. I think my Mom and Dad were curious to see the Beatles on TV as well. And then came Ed Sullivan's distinctive introduction, "Ladies and gentlemen, The Beatles!"

It was earsplitting listening and watching the reaction to the group as they performed, especially the young girls screaming and shrieking. Ed Sullivan even seemed to be shaken up by the noise from the audience.

The atmosphere was simply electric, even for a country boy watching the show in Kentucky.

I've been a fan of the Beatles for more than 50 years, first hearing the group's music on WLS in Chicago and WABC in New York. I suppose I own most, if not all, of their music. 

It's not that often when folks recall where they were when cultural  happenings in their lives. That's usually reserved for events such as the attack on Pearl Harbor, JFK's assassination, the Apollo 11's lunar landing or the 9/11 terrorist attacks.   

Needless to say, the Beatles changed the course of music and influenced countless musicians and non-musicians like me. And it marked the first wave of the British Invasion that led to other acts such as The Kinks, The Rolling Stones, and The Dave Clark 5.

Remember this song -- "We Love You Beatles" from many years ago?

"We love you Beatles
Oh, yes, we do
We love you, Beatles,
And we'll be true

"When you're not near to us
We're blue
Oh, Beatles, we love you
(Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah)"

After a half century, we still love the Beatles. It seems like only yesterday.

Until the next time...