by Kevin Burton No rock and roll artist discussion can make me more happy, but at the same time more sad and more angry than that of Karen Carpenter. None of my other favorites, from Steely Dan to Gerry Rafferty, Motown to the Beatles, to Supertramp, Billy Joel, Elton John, Flans from Mexico, …
Category Archives: music
“The Immigrant” Didn’t Fit John Lennon
by Kevin Burton For about three minutes and fifty seconds a tidy story unfolds from the pen of lyricist Phil Cody and the voice of the great Neil Sedaka. Attempt to read between the lines though and you have a mess on your hands, especially with Sedaka dedicating the song to ex-Beatle John …
Sign Me Up, Forever In Blue Jeans
by Kevin Burton We talk Neil Diamond for the second time this week today, but first, a short digression back to my college days. My college friend Matt once commented that “the only things Kevin Burton and I agree on are Billy Joel and freedom of the press.” We favored both, for the …
Brother Neil’s Travelling Controversy
by Kevin Burton Hard feelings and Neil Diamond songs usually don’t go together as far as I know. But we have two examples of such today. Diamond is the latest artist to be featured in our 2022 look at songs that peaked at number 22 on the American chart. The songs “Brother …
Simon At His Best On “Me And Julio”
by Kevin Burton The lyrics say crime and punishment, the delivery, whimsy and jest. The package came from Paul Simon, and he was hot in the early 70s. So I am amazed to learn that this song qualifies for inclusion in our 2022 series on songs that peaked at number 22 on the …
Music For The Master, A True Joyful Noise
by Kevin Burton “It’s not just a song, it’s music for the Master.” I used to hear that just about every weekday on Christian radio when I lived in Ohio. The guy who did the afternoon shift on WFCJ radio called his show Music for the Master. I can still hear his distinctive …
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Eddie Money’s Definition Of Paradise
by Kevin Burton A song that Cash Box called “an excellent punchy rocker” has become a necessary part of our shared musical vocabulary. The signature song of the late Eddie Money, “Two Tickets To Paradise,” peaked at number 22 on the American chart. So it has a place in our 2022 series. …
70s Elvis And The Fiction Of “My Way”
by Kevin Burton In a 50th year retrospective, The Guardian called the song “My Way” a monument. True enough in the musical sense, but I say it’s a sad one. This look at My Way is part of our 2022 series on songs that peaked at number 22 on the American chart. You …
Taylor’s “Shower The People” Says It All
by Kevin Burton In the great human family James Taylor got the voice. The rest of us are just making do. That’s a favorite old saying of mine. It may be difficult to stick to it, given the thousands of talented singers we’ve heard over the years. But every time I listen to …
My Cat Can’t Save Time In A Bottle
by Kevin Burton I have a correction today. Got one of my facts wrong. The older of the two cats we got in December is 13, not 11 as I previously reported. Page 7 regrets the error. So does Gabbie for that matter. The confusion came because the lady at the cat …
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