On October 29, 1983, Pink Floyd’s “The Dark Side Of The Moon” marked its 491st week on the US Billboard album chart, surpassing the previous record holder, “Johnny’s Greatest Hits” by Johnny Mathis. When it finally dropped off the list in October of 1988, over 14 years later, “Dark Side” had set a record of 741 consecutive weeks on the chart.
In honor of this feat, not to mention the upcoming Halloween holiday, today’s playlist features “Moon” songs, and includes the artist responsible for the accomplishment, as well as the artist dethroned: both Pink Floyd and Johnny Mathis appear on the list, along with the likes of The Police, Van Morrison, Sting, Creedence Clearwater, Ozzy Osbourne, Ariana Grande, Bruno Mars, Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Elvis Pressley, Billie Holiday, even Benny Goodman!
One of my favorite “moon” songs is “Sister Moon” by Sting. It sounds as though he wrote and recorded it in some old haunted house under the light of a full moon. It contains the line “my mistress’ eyes are nothing like the sun,” no less from Shakespeare’s Sonnet 130. Sting must have a thing for the moon, with the playlist title song “Walking On The Moon” with The Police, and his solo songs “Sister Moon” and “Moon Over Bourbon Street.”
Van Morrison’s “Moondance” is one of the greatest romantic mood songs ever recorded. CCR’s “Bad Moon Rising” and Genesis’ “Mad Man Moon” are also among my favorites. And who thought of making a brilliant mash-up of Bruno Mars’ “Locked Out of Heaven” and The Police’s “Walking On The Moon?” If you haven’t seen it, it’s a must watch:
Most songs contain “moon,” in the title, though there are also songs whose titles include “moonlight,” “moondance,” “moonshine,” “moonshadow,” and even “moonage.” And one song instead has moon prominently featured its lyrics, Pink Floyd’s “Brain Damage” which includes the lyric “see you on the dark side of the moon,” from which the album gets its title.
I hope you enjoy these moon songs:
Also, in honor of the upcoming holiday, I thought I’d share one of the best Halloween themed videos ever made, “Thriller”:
As well as a “bonus” playlist, “The Season Of The Witch,” with dark, spooky songs, suitable for Halloween Haunting!
I hope that this music and my blog truly serve as a “revival: a new presentation of something old,” a springboard to return to the music of your youth, or perhaps to find artists you want to discover anew. Rediscover the passion of music in your life.
On October 23, 1976, Led Zeppelin made their US television debut. Also on this day in 1993 Meat Loaf had his first UK No.1 hit with “I’d Do Anything For Love (But I Won’t Do That),” which became a No.1 hit in 28 countries, including his first in the US, a fame not even any of the hits from “Bat Out Of Hell” achieved. And on this day in 2015, Adele released “Hello,” which broke the Vevo record by achieving over 27.7 million views within 24 hours. So what do these seeming disparate artists have in common? They are all featured in today’s playlist “Piano Man,” honoring great piano performances in rock and pop.
As you may remember from by bio on the blog, I grew up in the 70’s taking organ (yes organ) lessons, so keyboardists have always been near and dear to my heart. The first concert I ever attended was Billy Joel. At that concert I heard the song “Prelude/Angry Young Man,” but back then there was no internet, and I didn’t own albums, so the way I found the song was by starting my album collection buying Billy Joel albums until I finally stumbled upon “Turnstiles”, which contains the song, as well as 3 other greats included on the playlist, “Summer Highland Falls,” “New York State Of Mind,” and “Miami 2017.” For “Prelude” Billy said he wanted to play the piano more as a percussive than string instrument, as it it both, with hammers striking strings to create sound. Watching the video, you’ll agree he achieved his goal:
Originally conceived to feature unbelievable piano performances in rock and pop songs, the playlist eventually evolved to spotlight songs prominently featuring piano or with unforgettable piano riffs that have become classics. It led to the creation of a sister playlist, if you will, of great keyboard songs over the years. Each progresses though the years, both starting with none other than Ray Charles, with his almost ragtime piano pounding in “Mess Around” and his electrifying keyboard playing in “What’d I Say.”
While many might think the lists will be dominated by Billy Joel and Elton John, and make no mistake, I had to limit myself in their selections, there are many other equally accomplished keyboardists who tickle the ivories with astounding prowess, including the likes of:
Billy Preston, who has backed several hall of fame artists, many featured on these playlists, including Little Richard, Sam Cooke, Ray Charles, The Rolling Stones, and The Beatles.
Carole King, who has had several memorable piano backed hits, but has written several such songs for other artists, including The Shirelles, The Drifters, The Chiffons, and James Taylor.
Steve Winwood, starting his music career at just 15 years old with The Spencer Davis Group, continuing on with Traffic and his solo work, though also a quite accomplished guitarist who can keep up with former partner from “Blind Faith” days Eric Clapton.
Ray Manzarek, creating sounds of the 60’s with Jim Morrison and The Doors. For those of you who haven’t seen Oliver Stone’s “The Doors” with Val Kilmer, do yourself a favor and watch it. The rock biography ranks up there with “Ray,” “The Buddy Holly Story,” and “La Bamba.”
Greg Rolie, with his latin 60’s sound with Santana, and classic rock work with Journey.
Keith Emerson, perhaps beyond compare for his speed and styling ranging from classical to psychedelic to progressive rock with Emerson Lake & Palmer. Check out about 1:15 into “Karn Evil 9”:
Rick Wakeman, with his hard-driving anthem-like progressive rock keyboards in Yes.
Tony Banks, with his progressive rock keys with Genesis. He and his guitarist partner in the early band, Steve Hackett, are underrated in regards to their exceptional musicianship, both among my favorites. Check out from 7:00 to 8:30 or so of their epic contribution to psychedelia “Supper’s Ready.” You definitely have to make an investment in listening to a song over 23 minutes long, a whole side of vinyl, which I still own.
John Paul Jones, the oft-forgotten member of Led Zeppelin, providing solid rock keyboards as a backdrop to Page’s incomparable guitar work, Plant’s shrilly vocals, and Bonzo’s crushing drums maintaining the rhythm.
Richard Wright, for his ethereal psychedelic keyboards with Pink Floyd.
Billy Powell, with his boogie woogie piano work complementing the southern rock guitars of Lynyrd Skynyrd, perhaps one of my favorite unsung keyboard heroes.
Rick Davies and Roger Hodgson, teaming up to provide classic piano and keyboard riffs for Supertramp.
Dennis DeYoung, more known for his vocals, but also providing keyboards for Styx. Check out the classic Styx video of “Too Much Time On My Hands” side by side with Jimmy Fallon and Paul Rudd’s version – too great. Also check out Jimmy Fallon’s cover video of Extreme’s “More Than Words” with Jack Black (I’ll be featuring this song and video in an upcoming blog on Great Acoustic Guitar Intro songs – stay tuned!). So talented!
Roy Bittan, most known for providing his keyboard chops for Bruce Springsteen, including his iconic piano work on several “Born To Run” songs featured here, but also working with Bon Jovi, David Bowie, Chicago, Dire Straits, Stevie Nicks, and Meat Loaf, including his “I’d Do Anything For Love” featured on the playlist.
Jerry Harrison, with his innovative new wave pitch bending keyboard work with the Talking Heads.
Bruce Hornsby, following somewhat in the mold of Billy Joel and Elton John, check out his cover of “Madman Across The Water” on this list, a true piano giant, standing at 6’ 4”!
I even threw in a few “one hit wonders”, with Michael Martin Murphy’s “Wildfire” and Al Stewart’s “Year Of The Cat.” Many may not have ever heard the piano interlude to “Wildfire” as DJs often would cue up the song to start at it’s well known guitar and twangy keyboard intro. Both songs feature some great piano work, not to mention memorable melodies and lyrics.
Interestingly almost 25% of they playlist’s songs were released in just 2 years, 1970 and 1971, I guess somewhat of a musical nirvana for piano rock. It is closely followed by 1973-1977, a 5 year period containing 35% of the playlist songs as well. Definitely a great time to be a piano player in a rock band.
So many of these are among my favorite piano and keyboard songs. I’m sure I may have left a few of your favorites off. Let me know, and I can add them. Comments are not only welcomed but encouraged. Let’s dialogue about great music.
The playlists:
I hope that this music and my blog truly serve as a “revival: a new presentation of something old,” a springboard to return to the music of your youth, or perhaps to find artists you want to discover anew. Rediscover the passion of music in your life.
On October 15, 1960, the Beatles, minus Pete Best, their drummer at the time, along with two members of Rory Storm’s Hurricanes, including Ringo Starr, recorded a version of George Gershwin’s “Summertime.” This marked the first time the quartet of John, Paul, Ringo, and George would play together in what would become the best selling rock band in the world. While I have been unable to locate a copy of this cover, the Guiness Book of World Records estimates over 67,000 recorded versions of this song are in existence, many from thousands of recordings of live performances of “Porgy & Bess.” The Beatles do hold the record for studio recorded versions of a single song, with over 1,600 covers of “Yesterday” in existence.
On October 15, 1988, UB40’s cover of the Neil Diamond Song “Red Red Wine” made it to No.1 on the US Singles chart. Many perhaps never even knew the song was even a cover. Chris Isaak and Johnny Cash covered his “Solitary Man,” and the Monkeys covered his “I’m A Believer” as well. Songs like these inspired this week’s playlist, dedicated to cover songs. Perhaps a bit overly ambitious, it “weighs in” at over 400 songs, more than 24 hours of listening pleasure. Definitely meant for long trips!
I titled the blog “Cover Me,” feeling the Boss’s song summarized the theme so well, though I had to work to find a very interesting cover of his song. Among this collection of songs are some really amazing originals and covers, sometimes the cover impressively better than the original, or sometimes a very different take on the song, such as Chris Cornell’s version of Michael Jackson’s “Billie Jean.” The first time I heard his version wasn’t with him singing it, but instead David Cook singing it on American Idol Season 7 in 2008. I remember hearing the song, thinking I knew the song, but couldn’t quite place it, until he got to the refrain, that’s how creative and different a take it was on such an iconic MJ dance tune. I recently had a similar experience listening to Tommy Emmanuel, among the world’s greatest acoustic guitarists, if not the greatest, with his version, with Amanda Shire’s on vocals, of Madonna’s “Borderline” – I almost didn’t recognize it.
Some version that are perhaps arguably better than their original version, such as Johnny Cash’s version of Nine Inch Nails song “Hurt.” So haunting and lamenting. Trent Reznor, lead singer and songwriter of NIN, praised Cash’s interpretation of the song for its “sincerity and meaning”, going so far as to say “that song isn’t mine anymore.” You’ve probably seen it as a Nike commercial back in 2006. The commercial actually features one of my former Dartmouth College classmates Bob Kempainen, a former two time Olympian and national cross country champion, spewing his guts in the US Olympic Marathon trials in ’96. I remember my wife and I watching the trial, worried he wouldn’t finish the race, but in classic Bob style, he not only finished but won the race on the way to his second Olympic games in Atlanta. Bob is one of the smartest and toughest guys I know, now an orthopedic surgeon in Minnesota.
There are some amazing, classic songs that are actually covers that I never would have suspected. “Me and Bobby McGee,” with Janice Joplin actually covering a Roger Miller Song. Check out Crystal Bowersox cover, which is pretty fantastic. She is another American Idol alum from Season 9 in 2010 whom I absolutely love. I’ve seen her twice, and she never disappoints. She’s so genuine, with such a great voice. Try getting out to see her if you can.
While I knew “She’s Not There” by Santana was a spectacular cover of the Zombies original, I did not realize that their equally stunning “Black Magic Woman” was actually a cover of Fleetwood Mac.
But no cover is quite as jaw-dropping as Led Zeppelin’s cover of “Babe, I’m Gonna Leave You,” a painful song when sung by Joan Baez, but metamorphosized into one of the most classic power ballads of all time. How Page and Plant had the vision to create that version from its almost unrecognizable predecessor is beyond me.
And speaking of Led Zeppelin, I knew Great White is spot on in their covers of Zep. They have 2 tribute albums, “Great Zeppelin” 1 & 2. But who knew Train could sound just like Zep? Check out “Ramble On.”
While not what most of us think of as standard covers, there are a few instrumental covers that are so great they were hard to leave off this list, and so they appear. Give Rodrigo y Gabriela’s “Stairway To Heaven” a listen. They are a Mexican acoustic guitar duo, formerly heavy metal, then moved to Ireland and incorporated flamenco and jazz styling into their guitar playing. They are among the best guitarists I’ve ever seen live, and I’ve seen Clapton and Santana. Lindsey Sterling’s version Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah,” and 40 Fingers version of Dire Straits’ “Sultans Of Swing” and The Eagles “Hotel California”, with the Gypsy Kings also contributing a version of the latter, are equally compelling.
Few people were area that Sinead O’Connor’s “Nothing Compares 2 U” is actually a Prince cover that I though was hands down beyond compare, but then Chris Cornell came along and did his thing, and wow, so good. And in a similar vein to Chris Cornell’s “Billie Jean” are “Noah Guthrie’s covers of Prince’s “I Would Die 4 U” and LMFAO’s “Sexy And I Know It,” the song that went viral on YouTube, and wound him up on a season of “Glee” as well as “America’s Got Talent.” Noah is great to see live as well, such a down to earth, easygoing guy with a great voice that doesn’t quite fit his look.
And while some will argue over which is better, Aerosmith’s or the Beatles’ “Come Together,” others might have a similar argument over Run DMC’s or Aerosmith’s “Walk This Way, or even Earth Wind & Fire’s or The Beatles’ “Got To Get You Into My Life.” And what of the Kinks’ or Pretenders’ “Stop Your Sobbing”, or Van Halen’s or the Kinks “You Really Got Me?” Van Halen’s or Roy Orbison’s “Pretty Woman,” David Lee Roth’s or The Beach Boys’ “California Girls,” or George Thorogood’s, The Doors’ or Bo Diddley’s “Who Do You Love?” Stevie Ray Vaughan’s or Stevie Wonder’s “Superstition,” SRV’s or Jimi Hendrix’ “Voodoo Child?” Each of the interpretations of these songs are so great in their own right.
My uncle Joey, who was a lifelong musician, turned me on to Monte Montgomery, among the most amazing acoustic guitarists, whose version of Hall & Oates “Sara Smile” is stunning, its guitar strains perfection.
So no one can surpass or even match Hendrix’ “Little Wing”, but check out Monte’s version, and Sting’s very different, etherial take on the song. Same goes for Jimi’s Purple Haze, though take a listen to Jesse Kinch’s version, his vocals and guitar are ridiculous when just 16 years old. I first heard Jesse when channel surfing and stumbling upon Season 1 of Rising Star. He was the season winner hands down. Check out his performance with his band “Peace Bullet” at a talent show in junior high. What kid looks or sings like that at 14 years old???
And his performances on Rising Star at just 20 years old were equally spectacular. Check out his audition, covering Creedence Clearwater’s (though the original is by Screamin’ Jay Hawkins).
And then his very polished finale, a rendition of “Love, Reign O’er Me” that I prefer to Roger Daltry’s with the Who.
Sadly, Jesse was diagnosed last year with an aggressive brain cancer, and not only has been rendered unable to play guitar, but is fighting for his life. I and many fans are pulling for him, praying for him, and wishing him the best. Such a talent.
Joe Cocker is my cover hero. He has so many amazing covers, “With A Little Help From My Friends,” “She Came In Through The Bathroom Window,” “You Are So Beautiful,” “Many Rivers To Cross,” “You Can Leave Your Hat On,” “Feelin’ Alright,” “The Letter,” “Unchain My Heart,” “Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word,” “Don’t Let The Sun Go Down On Me,” I had to restrain myself from filling the list with his songs, “limiting” him to just 10 covers. Usually, his renditions are better than the originals. I never realized “You Are So Beautiful” was a cover of a song by Billy Preston, who had an impressive career in his own right, playing music spanning from R&B, rock, soul, funk, and gospel, playing with the likes of Little Richard, Sam Cooke, Ray Charles, the Everly Brothers, the Rollings Stones, the Beatles, Eric Clapton, and George Harrison.
Chris Cornell, as a solo artist or with Soundgarden, comes in at a close second to Cocker, covering 9 songs on the list, and additionally has 1 covered Temple of the Dog song on the list. And right on his heels is my man, Jesse Kinch with 8.
The most covered artist on my list? Big surprise – the Beatles, covered by other artists 8 times. And if you look at John Lennon with the Beatles and solo, he appears 15 times, covering 4 songs, and having 11 of his or the Beatles songs covered by other artists.
Some covers are not available on Spotify. Garth Brooks is not on Spotify or iTunes, so his cover of Billy Joel’s “Shameless” has to be heard elsewhere (luckily, I own it!), or when he played with Billy at the last concert at Shea Stadium in 2008 – an amazing concert, with Billy singing with the likes of Tony Bennett, John Mayer, Steven Tyler, Roger Daltry, John Mellencamp, and Paul McCartney, in addition to Brooks – definitely worth a watch. While I am a huge Billy Joel fan (he was my first concert in 1982 – Nylon Curtain tour), Garth’s version of “Shameless” is so much better than Billy’s, with his wife at the time Christie Brinkley even commenting that is was her preference as well!
Also missing is Jon Bon Jovi’s excellent cover of one of my all-time favorite Elton John songs, “Levon.” Often when songs are part of tribute albums or compilations, they are sometimes absent from streaming services. So while I’ve included Elton’s version on the playlist, you’ll have to listen to Bon Jovi’s version here:
Elton John, also highly covered by other artists on the list, coming in at 7, just behind the Beatles 8, also covered the Who song “Pinball Wizard” that became a huge hit for him. Also give a listen to Sting’s version of “Come Down In Time” – he makes it so much his own that it sounds like Elton wrote the song just for him.
Guns N’ Roses puts in a couple of fantastic covers of Bob Dylan’s “Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door”, and Wings “Live And Let Die.” And Motley Crue’s version of “Smokin’ In The Boys Room” in my opinion surpasses its original recording by Brownsville Station.
I can’t decide if I like John Mellencamp’s cover of Van Morrison’s “Wild Night” or the Doors or Hendrix’s version of Them’s (Van Morrison early band) “Gloria” more than the originals. So hard to decide. Luckily I don’t have to, I can listen to them all!
If you’ve never heard Israel “IZ” Kamakawiwo’ole, you’ll get to experience him first on this playlist, with his version of “Over The Rainbow” on ukulele. He also was well known for his rendition of “What A Wonderful World.” Sadly, he passed onto somewhere over the rainbow in 1997, at the age of 38.
Pet Shop Boys technopop cover of Willie Nelson’s “Always On My Mind,” previously made popular by Elvis Pressley, is a brilliant ‘80s interpretation of such a classic song. The Fine Young Cannibals do the same with Elvis’ “Suspicious Minds.” Hendrix recorded a crazy, bluesy version of Big Mama Thorton’s song “Hound Dog” first made famous by Elvis. And my girl and American Idol Alum from Season 10 in 2011 Haley Reinhardt has a widely heard cover of Elvis’ “Can’t Help Falling In Love” thanks to a Wrigley’s Gum commercial.
Metalica’s version of Bob Seger’s “Turn The Page?” Just ridiculous. And who knew Seger’s “Old Time Rock & Roll” was a cover? And Disturbed’s “The Sound Of Silence” cover of Simon And Garfunkel’s song is, well, disturbingly good.
“I Shot The Sheriff” – better cover by Clapton, or original by Bob Marley, who, by the way, died of malignant melanoma (skin cancer), not a drug overdose, as many people presume – hard to say.
Lenny Kravitz’ version of “American Woman” perhaps surpasses its orginal by The Guess Who. Reggae versions by UB40 with Chrissie Hynde (of the Pretenders fame) of Sonny & Cher’s “I’ve Got You Babe,” by UB40 of Neil Diamond’s “Red Red Wine,” by Big Mountain of Peter Frampton’s “Baby I Love Your Way,” by Club Nouveau of Bill Wither’s “Lean On Me” are all just brilliant.
Interestingly, I have 3 covers on the playlist of artists covering their own songs originally recorded in a “previous life” with a former band – Eric Clapton’s very different, acoustic, unplugged version of the powerful, rocking Derek & The Dominos’ “Layla;” Phil Collins’ more jazzed up Motown-esq version of Genesis’ “Behind The Lines” (after having recorded a jazzed up version of Diana Ross & The Supremes “You Can’t Hurry Love”); and The Eagles in their reunion tour with a crazy good flamenco inspired acoustic guitar intro with Joe Walsh and Don Felder of “Hotel California.” Though perhaps not true covers, they are different enough iterations to be worth including.
And one of my all-time favorite harmony songs, the Eagles “Seven Bridges Road” is a cover that surpasses Steve Young’s original recording.
Carole King could be on this list multiple times with several songs, as the brilliant songwriter she is, though only “(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman”, “You’ve Got A Friend”, and “Up On The Roof” appear here.
Jimmy Cliff covering Johnny Nash’s “I Can See Clearly Now?” Old Crowe Medicine Show covering Darius Rucker’s “Wagon Wheel?” Cyndi Lauper’s cover of Marvin Gaye’s “What’s Going On”(I know, sacrilegious to some of you!)? Phil Collins cover of Cyndi Lauper’s “True Colors?” Spencer Davis Group or Willie Nelson’s covers of Ray Charles’ “Georgia On My Mind?” – tossups!!!
Have fun exploring all of these covers – it will take days to weeks to get through them all! If you’re enjoying all of this, check out a great website that is an encyclopedia of cover songs, secondhandsongs.com. I actually found the original version of a cover I had first heard by Kenny Loggins, “For The First Time,” in the movie “One Fine Day” with George Clooney and Michelle Pfifer – a great watch. I stumbled upon Rod Stewart’s first version, which wasn’t listed on their site – submitted it, and now get a footnote:
And the moment you’ve all been waiting for, the playlist. Each cover is followed with its original version, sometimes well-known, other times obscure. FYI – each playlist released is indexed in the Playlists section of the blog, under the sub-headings Genre Playlists, Theme Playlists, and Word Playlists, as well as visible by searching William Storo on Spotify.
I hope that this music and my blog truly serve as a “revival: a new presentation of something old,” a springboard to return to the music of your youth, or perhaps to find artists you want to discover anew. Rediscover the passion of music in your life.
On this day in 1961, Ray Charles started a two week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with “Hit The Road Jack.” The song won a Grammy award as the Best Rhythm and Blues recording. If you haven’t watched “Ray” with Jamie Foxx, do yourself a favor and watch it. It ranks up there with Val Kilmer’s portrayal of Jim Morrison in Oliver Stone’s “The Doors” as among the best portrayals of a musician in a film. Quincy Jones, a lifelong friend of Ray Charles, commented upon screening the film that he forgot he wasn’t watching his friend Ray in the movie.
Ray’s song is among the inspiration for this Road playlist, “ROAD To Nowhere.”
John Lennon, born on this day in 1940, appears on the playlist as a Beatle with “The Long And Winding Road”, and solo with “Old Dirt Road”, a pretty song which I had never heard before researching this list. Also born on this day in 1948, Jackson Browne, appears with “The Road.” The set includes one of my all-time favorite harmony songs, the Eagles live performance of “Seven Bridges Road.”
You might notice this word-themed playlist includes a song, The Eagles “Take It Easy” that does not contain the word road in its title. I have decided to include the occasional song that so prominently features a word in its lyrics yet not in its title in my word-themed playlists from time to time, as I believe they belong and contribute to the overall theme. As this classic song lyric echos:
Well, I’m running down the road Tryin’ to loosen my load I’ve got seven women on my mind Four that wanna own me Two that wanna stone me One says she’s a friend of mine
Take it easy Take it easy Don’t let the sound of your own wheels Drive you crazy
Future planned playlists in a similar vein include:
“Rockin’ Down The Highway” – Highway, Boulevard & Avenue Songs
“Takin’ It To The STREETS” – Street Songs
“Further On Up The ROAD” – Compilation of Road, Street, Highway, Boulevard & Avenue Songs
They’re equally great. Stay tuned. You won’t want to miss them!
I hope that this music and my blog truly serve as a “revival: a new presentation of something old,” a springboard to return to the music of your youth, or perhaps to find artists you want to discover anew. Rediscover the passion of music in your life.
Music has the ability to entertain, excite, elate, and elevate. It also has the ability to give relief and hope, as witnessed by:
the Concert for Bangladesh, held at Madison Square Garden in 1971, the first ever tribute concert of such magnitude, organized by former Beatle George Harrison and Indian sitar master Ravi Shankar
Live Aid, a concert for Ethiopian Famine Relief, organized by Bob Geldof of the Boomtown Rats, held/simulcast in RFK Stadium, Philadelphia and Wembley Stadium, London in 1985
and 12-12-12, The Concert for (Hurricane) Sandy Relief, held at Madison Square Garden in 2012
Further, it has the ability to console, comfort, and heal, as evidenced by the various tributes after 9-11, including “America: A Tribute To Heroes”
As I have mentioned in “About Me”, quoting Albert Einstein, “I often think in music. I live my daydreams in music. I see my life in terms of music.” So it’s no surprise that when my dad unexpectedly passed away at the age of 49 in 1986, when I was 19 years old, while studying abroad in Spain while in college, I turned to music for solace, comfort, and healing. I listened to songs on my cassette Walkman in my downtime in Europe while traveling around with a close friend of mine, seeing the beauty and wonders of Italy, France, and England while coping with the emotions of such great loss.
Many years later, when my grandfather “Poppy”, my dad’s dad, passed away in his 90’s, now armed with digital technology and the ability to burn CDs, I made a tribute disc for my dad, and presented it to relatives as a memory not only of my dad, but of my grandparents, as I had uploaded old reel-to-reel audio clips of them talking and singing onto my computer. I still listen to this playlist with some regularity to remind myself of all the great times spent with my dad, keeping him close in mind and heart. Today, on what would be his 85th birthday, I thought I’d share that playlist, and the CD liner notes I had made for my family, with some old photos of him. I hope you don’t mind the indulgence.
I have made a few more such “tribute” compliation CDs for parents of former patients who passed away, in hopes of their finding some healing and peace through music. For those of you who have endured such heartfelt loss, I strongly encourage you to consider this medium as a means of therapy, a journey to heal and find hope, and to keep love close at heart.
While this playlist is about my dad, much of it could be about any dad, or anyone you hold near and dear to your heart and soul.
Since that time, as I continue to explore my word playlist themes, I decided to make a “John/Johnny” playlist as a tribue to my dad, John Storo. I think you’ll find this a fun playlist.
I hope that this music and my blog truly serve as a “revival: a new presentation of something old,” a springboard to return to the music of your youth, or perhaps to find artists you want to discover anew. Rediscover the passion of music in your life.
