Old Guy Radio for May 2020 - Home
First off, a short explanation. I have been a fan of Tony Kornheiser for years, i.e. I am a “little”. In his old radio show, Tony used to have a segment called Old Guy Radio, in which they played a song that was in Tony’s wheelhouse (think 1960’s), and Tony would tell a story about the band or his personal life as related to the song or the band.
About eight years ago, I adopted the “Old Guy Radio” tag when I started doing playlists for coworkers. The original intent was to learn up the whippersnappers. I still carry on creating monthly playlists, even in retirement. Whenever possible, I try to recreate these lists in Spotify. My profile name on Spotify is pearsons3and2. Anyway, over the next few weeks, I will archive all those playlist writeups here. So the main blog page will get kind of cluttered with them. Sorry, not sorry. And here it is…
Wow. What a time. I don’t know about you, but music has always been a great refuge for me (That and reruns of “Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives”). Since we are all stuck at home (my every other weekly trip to the grocery store is nerve wracking), this list is all about home. It is kind of interesting that most songs about home are about a longing to get back there. I’ll just leave that out there. Anyway, there are over a hundred songs in my library with the word “home” in the title, so the difficulty here was trimming the list down. The primary dilemma for me was how many weird prog songs I could include without alienating my entire audience, presuming I haven’t already done so.
Among the excluded are Ten Years After’s interminable “I’m Going Home” from Woodstock (you’re welcome), Ozzy’s “Mama, I’m Coming Home”, “Home by the Sea” by Genesis, Sonny Boy Williamson (or LZ) with “Bring it On Home”, etc., so on, and so forth.
Home - Jethro Tull. Yes, leading off two playlists in a row with Jethro Tull.
Baby Let Me Take You Home - The Animals. The very first single for the bluesy pop combo from Newcastle, ‘way back in 1964.
Every Home is Wired - Porcupine Tree. Or wireless, as the case may be. Of course, this was written in ‘95 or ‘96, basically pre-dating wi-fi. And it is a good thing every home is wired. Just think if this pandemic hit in the 80’s. You’d still be going into the office every day!
Going Home (Where Women Got Meat on Their Bones) - Son Seals. Not making a sly reference to the so-called “quarantine fifteen”. No sir. Personally, I’m losing weight because of stress. Anyway, Son Seals was a blues singer and guitar player from a small town in Arkansas. In 1971, he moved to Chicago and signed with Alligator Records, the nascent independent blues label based there. His album “The Son Seals Blues Band” was the third ever album released by the label. This one is from his 1984 album “Bad Axe”.
Happy Home - Paula Cole. Cole is probably best known for “Where Have All the Cowboys Gone” or “I Don’t Want to Wait”, which was the theme from “Dawson’s Creek”. She got her first big break when asked to join Peter Gabriel for the “Secret World” tour. This track is from her first album “Harbinger”, which was released soon after the Gabriel tour.
Here at the Home - Tribe. Tribe were an alternative rock band from Boston. I was first exposed to them as the opening band for the Psychedelic Furs at the Vogue in 1991. I thought they blew the headliner out of the water. I really loved the harmonies of the male and female voices.
Home - Los Lonely Boys. Just a nice cut from the three Garza brothers. “I’ll never want to leave”. Good thing.
Home Again - Oingo Boingo. Where are we going? Home again. Yup. Always love a little Oingo Boingo. Band leader Danny Elfman went on to score movies (basically anything directed by Tim Burton) and write the Simpsons’ theme song.
Home Again - John Mayall. From the British blues legend’s 1971 “Back to the Roots” album. Mayall gathered together as many Bluesbreaker alums as he could find to record this album. For instance, Eric Clapton plays lead guitar on at least half the tracks, this one included. A little research (archived liner notes, odd Facebook posts, a couple Wikipedia pages) reveal that “Nancy” is Nancy Throckmorton, Mayall’s girlfriend at the time.
Home at Last - Steely Dan. I’d say this track is about Odysseus, especially with the reference to retsina, which is a Greek wine that has been around for millenia. From their album “Aja”, which retains its greatness after forty plus years.
If You’re Scared, Stay Home! - Stuart Hamm. Even if you’re not scared. Especially if you’re not scared. Hamm is an accomplished bass player who has released several solo albums, as well as playing on albums by guitar greats Joe Satriani and Steve Vai. I’m not a professional sound engineer, but I did edit out an embarrassingly bad section of rap in this one. I think I did a decent job. If you think you know where it is, email me. BTW, one of the voices is Tommy Lee, although he does not provide the drums on the track.
In Every Dream Home a Heartache - Roxy Music. Included because it is sooo weird. The first two Roxy Music albums were really quite odd, probably because Brian Eno was still in the band. Thereafter, they discovered a more art/glam sensibility, almost certainly due to the influence of singer Bryan Ferry. Yes the lyrics are as strange as they seem. Nice guitar outro though.
On the Way Home - CSNY. This is actually a song Neil Young wrote for Buffalo Springfield, the band he and Stephen Stills were in from 1966 to ‘68. The original was actually sung by Richie Furay (later to found the band Poco) rather than Young, and I kind of think it sucks. So you get the nice acoustic version from “Four Way Street”.
Please Come Home - Camel. From their 1981 album “Nude”, which tells the true story of Hirō "Hiroo" Onoda, a Japanese soldier who hid out in the Philippine jungle after the war, not believing the war had ended, and did not surrender until 1974. Yes, you read that right.
Take Me Home - Phil Collins. With background vocals by Sting and Peter Gabriel. The video was kind of cute, filmed all over the world while Collins was on the “No Jacket Required” tour. If you don’t like Collins, that’s fine. There’s a lot to not like, but he was a great drummer (emphasis on “was”: he has nerve damage and can’t drum anymore) and could write a fine pop song.
The Way Back Home - Kevin Gilbert. From Gilbert’s posthumously released concept album “The Shaming of the True”, which relates the tale of the rise and fall of singer Johnny Virgil. Gilbert had previously recorded a version of this song with his band Giraffe, but I like this one better.
This is Home - Switchfoot. Originally recorded for the end credits of “The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe”, this became a pretty popular hit for Switchfoot. Young Faith Pearson liked the song enough that it got purchased from iTunes and ended up in the Pearson Library. And it seems as good a place to end this list as any.
Take care of each other. Be kind. Take time for self care. And for heaven’s sake, STAY OUT OF MY SPACE!!!
Courage!
OG