My Favorite Songs of 2023

Merry Christmas everyone! As this is the last Monday Monday Music™ blog of the year, I want to thank all my loyal readers for tuning in every week to read and listen to a brand new playlist of music every week!

2023 marks the third straight year that I have published a blog every Monday for a 52 week calendar year. This year may have been a little skimpy on the word count for a typical week as I have taken on more duties with D&D Learning Spaces™ as their Learning Environment Designer. 

I just want to give a quick shout out to my boss Dean Smith and his wonderful staff for making this a very rewarding year from a work perspective. After all these years, I still have the drive to design K-12 learning spaces with schools and Dean has given me the opportunity to express my creativity with educators while working with an exceptional group of furniture and technology collaborators. I am so blessed and thankful for this opportunity! 

This year with the full-time work gig kicking in, I started writing many a blog post on a Saturday or Sunday morning (like this one), but stayed true to the music playlists as they typically take several weeks to put together. My Favorite Songs of 2023 is a compilation of my favs taken from 11 months of my #NewMusicMondays playlists. I'm so thankful for the Monday Monday Music listeners who have taken the time to actually go through or even skip through a playlist that I have created. This year, I feature mostly songs from 16 new albums worth listening to.

This year, I added 60 Years of Music to cover the 1960's and the best decade of music ever produced in my opinion. Then, I continue 50 Years of Music to cover the 1970's, and #NewMusicMondays to keep you exploring new songs from young and older artists. A special hats off to The Rolling Stones for making an album in 2023 (Hackney Diamonds) of all new songs. 

Music is art and like all art we each have our own tastes. I don't expect everyone to like my typical mix of rock 'n' roll and Americana (or what we used to call Folk music). I do think that in every playlist I create, there is at least one or a couple of songs that make it to your heart. It may be an old tune from the last century, or it may be a new tune you discover today in the playlist. In any event, music is powerful. It's something that we take with us whether you are listening to a digital device or playing a song in our head. 

I also want to take a moment to thank my wife, Mary Kit and our blended-family for just being the wonderful people they are. All of us are busy, but I appreciate that we all work together to keep it all together for the combined five children, their spouses and our nine grandchildren. I think that the grandkids think that Yellow Submarine is my favorite song of all-time, and I'll will keep that going as long as they believe in Santa Claus. Someday, we'll have the talk about Penny Lane. 

This past week, Mary Kit and I took our three grandsons, Cole, Brendan and Drew to the Corvette Diner that has all the walls filled with paintings of the rock 'n' roll stars from the 50's and 60's. We had a great discussion of band members now dead or still alive. The conversation centered on two large paintings near us of The Rolling Stones and The Who. Now this got a bit tricky with Brian Jones and Keith Moon and our nine-year twins, as I kept it general. But, the boys just couldn't understand how adult Brian Jones could have drowned alone in his own swimming pool? I moved on to the painting of The Supremes. Anyway, there was a live DJ there and he played upon my request, Jumping Jack Flash and I Can See For Miles. He said, "These songs go out to the Wagner boys who are coming for my job!" I was born in a crossfire hurricane...            

As I say at the end of most of my posts, "Enjoy the playlist my friends." And... if I don't know you personally, but you've found your way here and listened to a song or two here, you're certainly a friend of mine!

Merry Christmas and let's all just practice a little more kindness in 2024, it can change everything.

Now here's a great little mix of album-oriented favs from 2023. Enjoy the playlist my friends!

And hey, let's not let the dust settle quite yet on my Christmas Mix 2023. 

It will make for great background music throughout this merry day!

My Favorite Songs of 1973

 
Fifty Years of Music. 1973 was a great year musically and personally. Fifty years ago, I was spending the first Christmas with my new girlfriend, Mary Kit and so the songs of that year have that special place in time in my heart.

Here's a few personal opinions from the featured albums above.

• No sophomore slump with the Eagles, as their second album is their best.
• Stevie Wonder takes it to a whole other level. Stevie opens my ears to R&B and I start to expand my musical tastes. 
• Paul Simon makes an album for the ages. My personal favorite from his great body of work.
• With this album, The Who cement the bronze metal just behind The Rolling Stones silver, and then there is The Beatles, at the top of the platform.
• Two albums by Elton John and Fleetwood Mac with song after song included here. I miss Christine.
• Jackson Browne is becoming a legend, but just wait for the one next year.
• Neil Young is drifting here, but I still want to believe.
• Dave Mason finally gets a little solo attention, and I'm including almost every song from the album.
• The Faces make a better album than The Stones in 1973. 
• Seals and Crofts make their last great album, and I played that thing to death in my bedroom.
• Pink Floyd actually made some good songs that I listened to in 1973. Then, classic rock stations killed the song, Money as it goes into the category of "songs ruined by radio."
• Harry Nilsson can do it all. I miss Harry, I wonder if only...
• Bonnie Raitt is quietly picking up steam.
• Mary Kit gets me listening to David Bowie, but years later I realize his early sound is the rock 'n' roll greatness of Mick Ronson. How could Bowie let him go?
• Bob Dylan makes a wonderful soundtrack and song that is one of my favorites of all-time.
• Two albums by Paul McCarthy and one by John Lennon without much mention here. 
• Tom Waits, what an incredible debut album. The songwriting and simple performance knocks me out 50 years down the road. I was so out to lunch and completely missed this one as an 18 year old. 
• Love the acoustic arrangements as Led Zeppelin builds even a wider spectrum of fans.
• Joe Walsh. Always a great song or two on every album he made. Enough to fill arenas for years and years, and that's just the solo part of his career.
• Loggins and Messina sing Lahaina, and I cry listening to it 50 years later watching the town burn down in 2023.
• Steely Dan is just killing it by 1973, with more to come. Anybody remember Skunk Baxter? He's still alive by the way. Steely Dan always had great songs performed by some of the best players in the world.
• George Harrison makes a solid album. I know it's not necessary to root for George Harrison, but I always wanted him to do well after the Beatles. I missed George this week listening to the Traveling Wilburys CD in the car.
• Mark Twain and John Prine, now that's a couple centuries of Americana all spun in the wonderful writing of these two giants. I miss John Prine. Dear Abby, Dear Abby...

Enjoy my 1973 playlist compiled from all my #FiftyYearsInMusic blogs this year. There are lots of deep cuts here my friends.

p.s. Don't forget my Christmas Mix 2023, I've added a few more videos!

My Favorite Songs of 1963

60 Years of Music. 1963 is the year before the rock 'n' roll "British Invasion" and "Beatlemania" coming to America. However, The Beach Boys have already established their own Los Angeles beachhead and Bob Dylan emerges on the folk scene in New York City as both take the country by storm. We're at the dawn of the monster years of rock 'n' roll and my generation is ready for the ride, even if many of us are not quite old enough to know it yet. 

These are the years where artists and bands were often required by their record companies to put out two albums a year plus be on a regular schedule to produce hit singles for the Billboard charts. In 1963, The Beatles and Beach Boys each put out two albums and a series of singles that will influence a whole new generation of kids playing musical instruments. The musical output will be astonishing, enough so that for me making 60 years of music playlists in the months and years ahead will be child's play. 

So, strap on those metal roller skates and turn on the transistor radios as the boomer generation will take on the establishment and put the suits, haters, and bible thumpers on notice, let's get the counter-culture party started!

1963 in Music and World Events (from Wikipedia)

• January 2 - The 7th birthday for budding ambassador of The Wonderful World of Disney, Mary Kit Smith.
• January 3 – The Beatles begin their first tour of 1963 with a five-day tour in Scotland to support the release of their new single, "Love Me Do", beginning with a performance in Elgin.
• January 7 – Gary U.S. Bonds files a $100,000 lawsuit against Chubby Checker, claiming that Checker stole "Quarter to Three" and turned it into "Dancin' Party." The lawsuit is later settled out of court.
• January 11 – "Please Please Me" is released in the United Kingdom by the Beatles, with "Ask Me Why" as the B-side.
• January 12 – Bob Dylan portrays a folk singer in The Madhouse of Castle Street, a radio play for the BBC in London.
• February 16
  • The Beatles achieve their first No. 1 hit single, when "Please Please Me" tops the charts in the UK.
• February 22 – The Beatles form Northern Songs Publishing Company.
• February 24 - The 10th birthday for budding genius, Steve Jobs  an American businessman, inventor, and investor best known as the co-founder of Apple. Jobs was also chairman and majority shareholder of Pixar, and the founder of NeXT. He was a pioneer of the personal computer revolution of the 1970s and 1980s, along with his early business partner and fellow Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak. In the early 2000's, Jobs sparked the digital music revolution with the iPod and iMusic online store.
• March 5 – 1963 Camden PA-24 crash: Patsy Cline is killed in small plane crash near Camden, Tennessee, while on her way to Nashville, Tennessee, from Kansas City, Missouri, at the height of her career, together with Cowboy Copas and Hawkshaw Hawkins.
• March 10 - The 8th birthday for budding musician, Gary Louris, an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter of alternative country and pop music. He was a founding member of the Minneapolis-based band the Jayhawks and their principal songwriter and vocalist after the departure of Mark Olson. Louris is often credited with the band's subsequent move from folk-country toward a more progressive, pop sound.
• March 22 – The Beatles release their first album, Please Please Me, in the UK.
• April 8 – The 35th Academy Awards ceremony is held. Lawrence of Arabia wins Best Picture.
• April 29 – 19-year-old Andrew Loog Oldham signs a contract with the Rolling Stones, becoming their manager. Oldham had seen the band in concert the previous day at the Crawdaddy Club in London.
• May 1 – The Coca-Cola Company introduces its first diet drink, Tab cola.
• May 2 – The Beatles reach number one in the UK singles chart for the second time with "From Me To You".
• May 6 - The 9th birthday for budding musician, Mark Hunter.
• May 11 – The Beatles album Please Please Me goes to the top of the UK Albums Chart.
• May 15
  • The 5th Annual Grammy Awards are held in Chicago, Los Angeles and New York, hosted by Frank Sinatra. Tony Bennett and Igor Stravinsky each win the most awards with three, with the former winning Record of the Year for his song "I Left My Heart in San Francisco". Vaughn Meader's The First Family wins Album of the Year and Anthony Newley and Leslie Bricusse's "What Kind of Fool Am I?" wins Song of the Year. Robert Goulet wins Best New Artist.
• May 27 – The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan, singer-songwriter Bob Dylan's second and most influential studio album, is released by Columbia Records. The lead song, "Blowin' in the Wind", is released as a single by Peter, Paul and Mary in June and by Dylan himself in August.
• May 29 – On the 50th anniversary of its stormy première,^[3] 88-year-old Pierre Monteux conducts the London Symphony Orchestra in The Rite of Spring at the Royal Albert Hall, with the composer Stravinsky (81) in the audience.
• June 7 – The Rolling Stones' first single, a cover version of the Chuck Berry song "Come On", is released in the UK and reaches No. 21.
• June 12 - Medgar Wiley Evers, July 2, 1925 – June 12, 1963) was an American civil rights activist and the NAACP's first field secretary in Mississippi, who was assassinated by Byron De La Beckwith. Evers, a decorated U.S. Army combat veteran who had served in World War II, was engaged in efforts to overturn segregation at the University of Mississippi, end the segregation of public facilities, and expand opportunities for African Americans including the enforcement of voting rights.
• June 20 - Establishment of the Moscow–Washington hotline (officially, the Direct Communications Link or DCL; unofficially, the "red telephone"; and in fact a teleprinter link) is authorized by signing of a Memorandum of Understanding in Geneva by representatives of the Soviet Union and the United States.
• June 27 - The 8th birthday for a budding ambassador of peace, Bill DeVoe.
• July 1 – ZIP codes are introduced by the United States Postal Service.
• July 15 - The 17th birthday for a budding singer who would take many of the hits from 1963 and make them even bigger hits in the 1970's, Linda Ronstadt.
• July 20 - The 12th birthday for the simply amazing Gary "Crazy Legs" Hill. Rest in Peace brother.
• August 3 – The Beatles perform at The Cavern Club in Liverpool for the final time.
• August 5 – The United States, United Kingdom and Soviet Union sign the Partial Nuclear Test Ban Treaty.
• August 14 - The 9th birthday for budding musician, Paul Hobbs
• August 21 - The 10th birthday for budding builder, Ken Forman.
• August 28 – March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. Musical performers include Mahalia Jackson, Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, Peter, Paul and Mary and Marian Anderson.
• August 30 – Philips introduces the Musicassette at the Berlin Funkaustellung.
• September 6 – Nippon Crown record label is established as Crown Records, a subsidiary of Columbia Music Entertainment.
• September 12 – The Beatles reach the UK number one for the third time with the single "She Loves You" (released on 23 August).
• September 15 – American civil rights movement: The 16th Street Baptist Church bombing, in Birmingham, Alabama, kills 4 and injures 22.
• October 13 – Lesley Gore performs on The Ed Sullivan Show for the first time. She performs a medley of her smash hits "It's My Party" and "She's a Fool," which charted at #1 and #5, respectively.
• October 15
• British newspaper The Daily Mirror uses the term "Beatlemania" in a news story about the group's concert the previous day in Cheltenham; a Scottish music promoter later claims to have originated the term a week earlier.^[4]
• Berliner Philharmonie concert hall opens.
• October 16 - The 9th birthday for budding actor, Jeff McCarthy.
• October 20 - Tom Petty's 13th birthday
• November 2 – 1963 South Vietnamese coup: Arrest and assassination of Ngo Dinh Diem, the South Vietnamese President.
• November 6 – 1963 South Vietnamese coup: Coup leader General Dương Văn Minh takes over as leader of South Vietnam.
• November 22
• Assassination of John F. Kennedy: In a motorcade in Dallas, Texas, U.S. President John F. Kennedy is fatally shot by Lee Harvey Oswald, and Governor of Texas John Connally is seriously wounded at 12:30 CST. Upon Kennedy's death, Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson becomes the 36th President of the United States. A few hours later, President Johnson is sworn in aboard Air Force One, as Kennedy's body is flown back to Washington, D.C. Stores and businesses shut down for the next four days, in tribute. The beginning of the end of the innocence. 
• November 24
  • Lee Harvey Oswald, alleged assassin of John F. Kennedy, is shot dead by Jack Ruby in Dallas, an event seen on live national television.
  • Vietnam War: New U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson confirms that the United States intends to continue supporting South Vietnam militarily and economically.
• November 25 – State funeral of John F. Kennedy: President Kennedy is buried at Arlington National Cemetery. Schools around the nation cancel classes that day; millions watch the funeral on live international television. Lee Harvey Oswald's funeral takes place on the same day.^[20]
• November 29
  • U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson establishes the Warren Commission to investigate the assassination of John F. Kennedy.
• November 30 – After an unbroken 30-week spell at the top of the UK Albums Chart, The Beatles album Please Please Me is knocked off the top of the charts by the group's latest album With the Beatles (released on 22 November).
• December 7 – The first instant replay system to use videotape instead of film is used by Tony Verna, a CBS-TV director, during a live televised sporting event, the Army–Navy Game of college football played in Philadelphia, United States.
• December 12 – The Beatles reach number one in the UK for the fourth time with "I Want To Hold Your Hand" (released on 29 November).
• December 24 - The 10th birthday for budding bohemian and leader of the pack, Ron Zieman.
• Harvey Ball invents the ubiquitous smiley face symbol.

Notable Bands Formed in 1963

• The Kinks
• Manfred Mann
• Bob Marley and the Wailers
• The Spencer Davis Group
• Neil Young & The Squires
• The Yardbirds

Enjoy the 1963 Playlist my friends!

Christmas Mix 2023

  Christmas Mix

2015 • 2016 • 2017 • 2018 • 2019 • 2020 • 2021 • 2022 • 2023

My kind of people are kind people

My kind of people are kind 

If you got a good heart

That’s a good start

If you want to be a friend of mine

Rich or broke, drink or smoke, to me it’s all Pepsi/Coke

Whatever floats your boat is fine 

My kind of people are kind people

My kind of people are kind

–Maia Sharp, Kind

We live in complicated times in 2023. Lots of hatred going around this country and world to make us look in the rear view mirror and see authoritarians wanting to pull up next to us at the crossroads, again.

This Christmas season I suggest Americans watch World War II movies. Maybe we need the constant reminder that democracy is not to be taken for granted. 

I guess as a white male, I've never really used the term, "my people" in any context that I can remember. When I first heard Maia Sharp's song, Kind it really spoke to me. We can pick sides on all kinds of issues and events, but maybe for those people who pick kindness as their only rule, well then peace and democracy will follow. Just maybe, complex problems require simple actions.

This holiday season and going into next year, I'm thinking I need to feel, think and demonstrate kindness to others. And, if you want to hang with me, I guess we can say together, "Our kind of people are kind."

Happy Christmas my friends and enjoy this new alternative mix of December songs over the next several weeks!

New Music and Documentary Monday • September - November, 2023

Boy, a day late and a dollar short here. I might be slippin' in my diligence to bring you the latest Americana and rock 'n' roll but what's a couple of months when my grandchildren look at this someday and think... we'll he'd been slippin' for years.

As usual, I don't have much to say about all the good new music here other than letting the shifting and sorting of putting together a respectable playlist represent the heavy-lifting in the last quarter of 2023. The Americana genre dominates my new music selections as that's were the talent lies these day. Yep, you're still waiting for the ghost of _____________ (fill in the blank) to turn up in a youthful form and spark the great rock 'n' roll revival of 2025. 

Now before you get to the playlist, here's a list of recent documentaries that I have watched and highly recommend as you plant yourself into some soft seating during the holidays. Speaking of which, don't miss my annual Christmas Mix 2023 next week, followed in the weeks ahead by My Favorite Songs of 1963, 1973, and 2023 to take us to the end of the year.

• The Stones and Brian Jones  (Just released in theaters and rent on Amazon Prime $7.99) - Featuring candid interviews with the Rolling Stones and never-before-seen footage, this captivating documentary explores how Brian Jones, the genius founder of the greatest rock band in the world, was left behind in the shadows of history.
  
  
• Born In Chicago (Amazon Prime)  - In 1960, a group of white teenage Chicago musicians traveled to the city's southside music clubs to learn the blues from the original masters. This is their story.
  
  
• Tom Petty: Somewhere You Feel Free - The Making of Wildflowers (Amazon Prime) - In 2020, a collection of 16mm film was discovered of Tom Petty, capturing a prolific songwriting streak from 1993-95 making the album Wildflowers with producer Rick Rubin. Known for being reclusive about his personal life & creative process. The award winning & critically acclaimed, Somewhere You Feel Free is a candid & musically rich look into the legendary artist's creative genius.
  
  
• David Holmes: The Boy Who Lived (HBO) - Gymnast David Holmes played Daniel Radcliffe’s stunt double in the Harry Potter films until a tragic on-set accident left him paralyzed. With his life turned upside down, David's extraordinary spirit of resilience becomes a source of strength and inspiration to everyone around him. Featuring intimate interviews with David, Daniel Radcliffe, friends, family, and colleagues, David Holmes: The Boy Who Lived reflects on living with adversity, forging a new identity, and the bonds that bind us together and lift us up.
  
  
• Albert Brooks: Defending My Life (HBO) - From stand-up to acting to writing and directing, Albert Brooks has been a major force in American comedy since the late 1960s. With testimonials from comedians, friends, family, and Brooks himself, Albert Brooks: Defending My Life explores the origins and evolution of Brooks’ career, the impetus for his creativity, and his enduring impact on comedy.
  
  
• Stand Up & Shout: Songs From a Philly High School (HBO) - This heartfelt documentary follows a unique music program at Hill-Freedman World Academy that teaches students to write, compose, produce, and perform original songs. Together with local musicians, they create an album that captures the challenging times they’re living in and the joy that music brings. Stand Up & Shout: Songs From a Philly High School explores the transformative power of music and how arts education can be a source of hope and healing.
  
  
• and coming in December - The Immediate Family - The Immediate Family is a unique group of iconic musicians who have played together for decades but never as their own band. Known for their long, illustrious careers backing up such Hall-of-Fame artists such as James Taylor, Keith Richards, Jackson Browne, Linda Ronstadt, Carole King, Stevie Nicks and Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, guitarists Danny Kortchmar and Waddy Wachtel, drummer Russ Kunkel, and bassist Leland Sklar have come together, along with guitarist Steve Postell, to perform their own songs as The Immediate Family, a band that can legitimately be called a supergroup.

Enjoy the Playlist my friends!