Hey lovely Wormholes! It’s time to come share what songs have been kicking around your noggin’ this past week. I want to know what lovely ditties arrived uninvited and wouldn’t leave when the beer ran out.
Click the comment button to add your earworms!
One of my earworms for the week has been Blue Oyster Cult’s 1981 hit single “Burning For You.” I recently posted a playlist on Medium (link here) of my top ten songs with the word “Burn” or “Burning” in the title and of course this was one of them.
I’m a huge Blue Oyster Cult fan, and will probably write about them more at some point, but wanted to give a big shout out to the album that “Burning For You” is from: Fire of Unknown Origin. It’s very different from their earlier albums, with more keyboards and moody textures, but I think it’s one of their best.
John Denver’s ‘Country Roads’ for me this week. It got there via a mention in the latest chapter of my novel, but once it’s lodged in the brain those ‘mountain mamas’ are surely the very definition of an (annoying) ear worm!
I hope you aren’t lumping all 3 of them in the same category. I guess how I would lump them together is that the songs I like from each I truly love and the rest Id be happy not to hear again. I never understood the Eagles hate. They were pleasantly forgettable to me. But always had a soft spot for “Life in the Fast Lane.”
Is there "Eagles hate?" I sorta felt alone in hating them, after all they sold a zillion albums. My problem with them is that despite having some competent musicians, they are creatively one of the least ambitious bands EVER. Pick three songs, repeat over and over, and you've got their entire discography. But it kept selling! They learned their lesson from groups that tried to evolve and progress and got hate from their fans for trying. Manilow was more creative, but gawd, his bad stuff is BAD. Copacabana? Now you've got me thinking about it, I have to go do an aural rinse! AAAACK!
I feel like there are very few bands that get as much hate as The Eagles. They get lambasted on countless music critic lists, podcasts, articles. I am part of a monthly zoom gathering of music writers and the topic of The Eagles was raised and they were almost unanimously seen as the worst big band in history. I am certainly not a "fan" per se, but I grew up with them played in the house in the 70s and have positive associations. Same with Manilow. That said, I have a soft spot for soft rock (most of which is called Yacht Rock now).
Hadn't heard of Yacht Rock--hilarious! My son's friends call it Dad rock. It's tough to explain what are ultimately subjective reactions. I'm all over the map--classical, jazz, blues, rock, opera... But within rock, I do go for heavier, more technical stuff. So, question, if I may: how do I get to participate in the zoom group? It sounds like fun.
Try the book Charles, serialised at https://challenge69.substack.com - once you get the John Denver quote in context you might just enjoy it (and not need shooting!)
Okay -- I’m going to add another earworm. One that is more of a true earworm as it is something I find annoying and hard to eradicate. It’s the theme to the 1980s TV show, Family Ties. I’m editing a tribute video to the creator of the show for a client and have had to watch hours of Family Ties episodes to find just the right clips. The ending part of the theme song “What would we do baby....without us....shalalala...” is what is looping incessantly. Deniece Williams and Johnny Mathis sang this song. https://youtu.be/pDOSqFp3wo8
Movie scores, done right, are full of earworms. Think 007, The Good the Bad and the Ugly.... Here is a group that does (good) earworms: https://zapatosjam.substack.com/p/divine-harmony-fictionjunction I am addicted and happily so.
John Denver’s ‘Country Roads’ for me this week. It got there via a mention in the latest chapter of my novel, but once it’s lodged in the brain those ‘mountain mamas’ are surely the very definition of an (annoying) ear worm!
John Denver...Barry Manilow...The Eagles... Please, just shoot me.
I hope you aren’t lumping all 3 of them in the same category. I guess how I would lump them together is that the songs I like from each I truly love and the rest Id be happy not to hear again. I never understood the Eagles hate. They were pleasantly forgettable to me. But always had a soft spot for “Life in the Fast Lane.”
Is there "Eagles hate?" I sorta felt alone in hating them, after all they sold a zillion albums. My problem with them is that despite having some competent musicians, they are creatively one of the least ambitious bands EVER. Pick three songs, repeat over and over, and you've got their entire discography. But it kept selling! They learned their lesson from groups that tried to evolve and progress and got hate from their fans for trying. Manilow was more creative, but gawd, his bad stuff is BAD. Copacabana? Now you've got me thinking about it, I have to go do an aural rinse! AAAACK!
I feel like there are very few bands that get as much hate as The Eagles. They get lambasted on countless music critic lists, podcasts, articles. I am part of a monthly zoom gathering of music writers and the topic of The Eagles was raised and they were almost unanimously seen as the worst big band in history. I am certainly not a "fan" per se, but I grew up with them played in the house in the 70s and have positive associations. Same with Manilow. That said, I have a soft spot for soft rock (most of which is called Yacht Rock now).
Hadn't heard of Yacht Rock--hilarious! My son's friends call it Dad rock. It's tough to explain what are ultimately subjective reactions. I'm all over the map--classical, jazz, blues, rock, opera... But within rock, I do go for heavier, more technical stuff. So, question, if I may: how do I get to participate in the zoom group? It sounds like fun.
I’ll ping you outside the comments about that
Try the book Charles, serialised at https://challenge69.substack.com - once you get the John Denver quote in context you might just enjoy it (and not need shooting!)
Okay -- I’m going to add another earworm. One that is more of a true earworm as it is something I find annoying and hard to eradicate. It’s the theme to the 1980s TV show, Family Ties. I’m editing a tribute video to the creator of the show for a client and have had to watch hours of Family Ties episodes to find just the right clips. The ending part of the theme song “What would we do baby....without us....shalalala...” is what is looping incessantly. Deniece Williams and Johnny Mathis sang this song. https://youtu.be/pDOSqFp3wo8