Last Ten Songs We've Heard on 98.7-SimonFM in Greesnboro, NC: Please Play Good Genesis Songs

Greetings to our beloved blog readers in Sweden, Costa Rica and Indonesia....

During the 1:00-2:00 p.m. hour (east coast America time), we were 'treated' to a mix of hip hop, disco, classic rock and kitsch pop thanks to 98.7-SimonFM (Greensboro, NC). The hour started with "I Can't Dance," a rare bland pop song from Genesis, a trio led in its later years by Phil Collins, a singer who wrote his signature solo song "I Can Feel It in the Air Tonight" after he came back to England from a tour of America to find she had been cheating on him. But, if anyone from Simon stumbles upon this blog, maybe they can play "Land of Confusion" or "No Reply at All" instead (yeah, of course, they won't pay attention to what we say, but..........)

Here are the last ten songs we listened to on Simon-FM:

1) "Refugee" Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. 1980

2) That's the Way (I Like It). KC and the Sunshine Band. 1975.

3) Another Brick in the Wall. Pink Floyd. 1979.

4) Don't Talk to Strangers. Rick Springfield (pict. bottom) 1982

5) Only the Good Die Young. Billy Joel (pict. center). 1977

6) Broken Wings. Mr. Mister. (pict. top) 1985

7) Someday. Nickelback. 2003.

8) Whole Lotta Love. Led Zeppelin. 1969

9) Every Little Step. Bobby Brown. 1989

10) I Can't Dance. Genesis. 1991

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http://www.billyjoel.com

http://www.rickspringfield.com

Casulaties of Modern Technology (9 of 12)_ The Compact Disc

Yes, we are using an image of a compact disc of REO Speedwagon as a bit of an in-joke, as it is a band that one often hears one annoying adult contemporary radio stations, such as WASH-FM (97.1, Washington DC).

The compact disc, which is refered to as the cd, is an optical disc used to store digital data. It was first developed in labs in Belgium and The Netherlands in 1979, according to Wikipedia, and the cd became commercially available in 1982.

The first cd that we personally purchased was "Storm Front" by Billy Joel in 1989; it's the one with "We Didn't Start the Fire," which seemed like such a great song at the time.

As "Rolling Stone" writer Rob Sheffield has noted in his memoirs about his youth and how the pop music of the time ('80s and '90s) affected his life, he noted that the cd was instrumental in allowing music artists to store more music in one unit. Bands, ranging from The Cure to Guns N Roses, have taken advantage of this.

There are also enhanced cds, such as "Naked" (Talking Heads, 1988), which have music videos stored on them in addition to music from the recording studio.

According to a recent "Rolling Stone" article (not written by Sheffield) and the public radio music show "Sound Opinions," sales of cds have been plummeting. But, many are still made in spite of more modern gizmos because older artists like Leonard Cohen, Tom Waits and Bob Dylan rely on cd sales for their older customers whereas young artists like Lady Gaga rely on going directly to I-Tunes and I-Pads, and other gadgets that were the brainchild of the late Steve Jobs.

However, vinyl sales have improved. In fac, 2011 was a banner year for vinyl record sales as 3.9 million records were sold. This was the first in sales in the product since 1979.

And, many though music stores have been disapperaring at an alarming rate, the remaning succesful ones, such as CD Alley in Chapel Hill, Hill, and Wuxutry Records in Athens, Ga. (which also has a store in Atlanta) have relied on both the cd and the record to get music to their customers.

Last 10 CDs I've Listened To

I must profess this was a bit tougher to put together than I anticipated as I had to double-check which dates these albums were released. I actually first got the release years for The Replacements' album "Tim" and REM's record "Document" mixed up.

This week, REM, a band that along with the B-52s shaped and defined the Athens,Ga., music scene in the 1980s decided to call it quits after 31 years.

Here are the albums:

1. Talking Heads (pictured) "Speaking in Tongues." (1983). Key Tracks: "Burning Down the House," "Girlfriend is Better," and "This Must Be the Place (Naive Melody)."

2. Okay Temiz (Turkish instrumentalist) "Magnet Dance" (1994).

3. Peter Bjorn and John "Gimme Some" (2011) Key Tracks: "Tomorrow Has to Wait" and "Down Like Me."

4. Ali Farka Toure (late Mali guitar great) "Niafunke" (1999).

5. The Replacements "Tim" (1987) Key Tracks: "Kiss Me on the Bus," "Bastards of Young," and "Left of the Dial."

6. Gogol Bordello (pictured) "Super Taranta!" (2007). Key Tracks: "Wonderlust King" and "American Wedding."

7. The Go-Gos (pictured) "Beauty and the Beat" (1981) Key Tracks: "We Got the Beat" and "Our Lips Are Sealed."

8. Mates of State "Bring It Back" (2006) Key Track: "For the Actor"

9. R.E.M "Document" (1987) Key Tracks: "Finest Work Song," "It's the End of the World (As We Know It)," and "The One I Love."

10. Billy Joel "Piano Man" (1973) Key Tracks: "Piano Man," "The Ballad of Billy the Kid," and "Captain Jack."