Happy Valentine's Day from Me to YouTube

To celebrate Valentine's Day, here's a YouTube playlist of Great Rock 'n Roll Love Songs.

The 15 videos all play sequentially, but if you don't like one or just want to see my selections, you can skip ahead.

Have a lovely day.

Led Time For Bonzo - Commemorating the 30th Anniversary of John Bonham's Death with My 10 Favorite Led Zeppelin Songs

I can still recall seeing the full-page ad at left in the Chicago Tribune on September 25, 1980, advertising four Led Zeppelin concerts at the Chicago Stadium, with tickets--amazingly topping out at just $15 for the biggest band in the world--available only by mail order.

A few weeks shy of turning 12, I was already a big Zeppelin fan, but not quite a concertgoer. It wouldn't have mattered anyhow, for that same day, 30 years ago today, the band's powerhouse drummer, John Bonham, died at the age of 32. After ingesting 40 shots of vodka in the previous 24 hours, he wound up choking on his own vomit. Not exactly a lovely way to go.

Devastated by the death of 'Bonzo,' who knew Robert Plant and Jimmy Page before the band was formed, Led Zeppelin canceled their Fall 1980 tour and, except for a handful of special events, would never again play together .

You can read a bit more about the circumstances at LedZeppelinConcertTicket.net, where I found the ad at left and which sells unused tickets from the Chicago Stadium concert.

As Led Zeppelin has always remained one of my favorite bands, with remastered recordings, newly released live albums and their phenomenal DVD set serving only to remind me of not only how great they were, but to illustrate their astonishing power as a concert act. They are the one band I wish I had seen live in their prime, even more than the Beatles, but I am content that despite sounding great at a reunion gig with John Bonham's son Jason taking his dad's place on drums (as demonstrated by this Stairway to Heaven clip), the band has not toured as sixtysomethings. Though if they do, I'll be there. (And I did see Page & Plant twice and Plant solo several times.)

But in remembering the sad significance of this date, I give you:

My 10 Favorite Led Zeppelin Songs
Most of these are live clips, not just because they're more readily found on YouTube, but because they showcase the Zep's mammoth live power. A "Playlist" clip, with all 10 videos playing sequentially, is below my countdown.

10. The Ocean


9. What Is and What Should Never Be


8. Houses of the Holy - a slim choice over Trampled Underfoot


7. Stairway to Heaven - Almost too ubiquitous in my youth, and the lyrics are silly, but I can't deny its power


6. Kashmir


5. Black Dog


4.Over the Hills and Far Away


3. The Song Remains The Same


2. Immigrant Song


1. Rock and Roll


Playlist video including all 10 above:

Born to Run in the USA, Somewhere in the Swamps of Jersey -- Birthday Tribute: Bruce Springsteen (b. Sept. 23, 1949)

Photo credit: A.M. Saddler, from Backstreets.com

Even for those of us still sitting on the proverbial sidelines when it comes to full-time employment, today is a day to celebrate The Boss' birthday.

For along with much else that can be--and has been--said about Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen, born this day in 1949 in Long Branch, New Jersey, he has captured the hopes and hardships of working-class people better than any other artist in rock history.

Springsteen became my favorite singer around 1980 and has never come close to giving up the title--despite, as he has admitted, some relatively "lost years" in the 1990s, during most of which his stalwart E Street Band was dormant.

Bruce tops the list of My 100 All-Time Favorite Artists of Popular Music (as well as that of My Favorite Entertainers of the '00s) and I recently wrote a long piece here about him, centered around the upcoming reissue of his 1978 Darkness on the Edge of Town album, complete with plenty of extra material.

So especially as today I've already penned and posted an article commemorating my all-time favorite jazz musician, the late John Coltrane, who shares Bruce's birth date, I'll refrain from into a long-winded dissertation on Bruce. Suffice it to say I have all his officially released material and a few things beyond, I've seen him live in concert 38 times and can't wait for more, and with no disrespect to anyone who relies on  religion, psychiatry or even controlled substances for emotional reinforcement, all I've ever needed was Springsteen's music to get me through some tough times.

So to celebrate The Boss turning 61--I celebrated #60 with him in person, last Sept. 20 at Chicago's United Center, when he first played my favorite album, Born to Run, all the way through--I'll do something I've never actually done before: Rank and count down my favorite Bruce Springsteen songs.

I thought I was going to do my Top 10, but couldn't quite narrow it down below 12, so that'll have to suffice. There are easily well over 100 songs of his I actively like, and very few I don't, so this wasn't all that easy. And though nothing post-1982 made the cut, I largely enjoy most of what Bruce has put out over the last 10 years and as a live act, he has remained as good as ever (and IMHO, leaps & bounds better than any other concert performer).

So without any further ado, here are...

My Top 12 Favorite Bruce Springsteen Songs

(Note: For those who want to hear the music but don't have time to click through all the videos, the final video below is a "Playlist" that will automatically cycle through the clips I've chosen.)

12. Atlantic City -The acoustic version on Nebraska is great, but I love the full-band live rendition, such as this one from 1985. He opened with it when I saw him play in Atlantic City in 2003.


11. Candy's Room - Probably the least prominent song from Bruce's canon in this list, but also one of his most sonically unique. Original version is on Darkness but this is a live version from 2007.


10. Darkness on the Edge of Town - A phenomenal song about choices and consequences, without condemnation. His closing lyrics on this one are among my very favorite, "Tonight I'll be on that hill 'cause I can't stop / I'll be on that hill with everything I got / Lives on the line where dreams are found and lost / I'll be there on time and I'll pay the cost / For wanting things that can only be found / In the darkness on the edge of town" This is a cool live clip from 1978.


9. The River - One of his most strident songs about the effects of a bad economy. The line, "Is a dream a lie if it don't come true or is it something worse?" is among his most poignant. This is a great version from the No Nukes concert in 1979 and subsequent film.


8. Jungleland - With the Born to Run album being my favorite, its songs will figure prominently here. Jungleland is the closing cut on the record, done here in London last June.


7. Incident on 57th Street - Like Jungleland, an almost operatic epic about lives and loss. Originally on his second album, The Wild, The Innocent and the E Street Shuffle, this live clip is from 2000.


6. The Ties That Bind - A rocker that opens The River album. A quick and direct summation of many of his recurring themes. The transition before the last verse is one of my favorite musical moments.


5. Born to Run - So ubiquitous--it's the one song all Bruce fanatics know will be played at every E Street show--that it's easy to forget how great it is.


4. Rosalita (Come Out Tonight) - Similar to Born to Run, 'Rosie' is such a favorite of even casual Springsteen fans that it seems almost too obvious, but I just love it. And a great bootleg clip from '78.


3. Thunder Road - This is like Bruce's Casablanca, full of lines people can readily recite. When I saw him at the United Center for 2 nights in October 2007, he hadn't played it the first night or previously on the tour. So this is a sentimental clip, even if the perspective and sound isn't the best; plus, my vantage point that night was quite similar.


2. Badlands - Also a staple of just about every E Street Band show, this is one song that best provides a boost when I need one. "Badlands, you gotta live it everyday / Let the broken hearts stand / As the price you've gotta pay / We'll keep pushin' till it's understood and these badlands start treating us good."  (Even the somewhat random renditions of many of these songs readily found on YouTube should show how good he and the band have sounded in recent years.)


1. Backstreets - My all-time favorite song by anyone. And though they were before my concert-going time, his 1978 versions are his best ever. That said, this clip--the only one of the full song I found from that era--isn't the greatest, but should sufficiently capture one of the most majestic rock songs ever written. (You can freely listen to the studio version here and below the video is an audio clip of the best live version I've ever heard.)




As I said above, this is just a "Playlist" that automatically rolls through the 12 videos above, for the ease of those who prefer to have the music playing in the background.


Happy Birthday Bruce and thanks for all the phenomenal music!

The Tenor of His Saxophone Remains One of My Favorite Things -- Birthday Tribute: John Coltrane (b. Sept. 23, 1926; d. July 17, 1967)

I know and like a fair amount of jazz, particularly the legendary musicians and composers--Charlie Parker, Charles Mingus, Thelonious Monk, Bill Evans, Dexter Gordon, Ornette Coleman, Sonny Rollins (who I saw earlier this year)--but am not quite an aficionado and 'Miles' short of being an expert.

But by far, my favorite jazz musician has long been saxophonist John Coltrane, whom I became aware of when Bono namechecked him--and Miles Davis--in Angel of Harlem, U2's 1988 song about Billie Holiday

'Trane' is typically cited just below 'Bird' (Charlie Parker) in the annals of all-time sax men, but I've liked him best since first hearing him and have come to own most of his major recordings.

More like Parker than their contemporary Rollins, whose career has stretched over 60 years, Coltrane's time in the limelight was rather brief. Born on this day in 1926 in Hamlet, North Carolina, he first became known in 1955 as a sideman to Davis, and then Monk, recorded his own first album in 1957 and didn't form his "Classic Quartet" until 1962. Although he had kicked his heroin habit years earlier, Coltrane died of liver cancer in 1967 at the age of 40.

I can't really speak too intelligently about his innovations or influence--the Wikipedia article on Coltrane does so briefly and Lewis Porter's biography on him is quite good--I just like the way he sounds, particularly when he blazes through solos. And even a dilettante like me can tell that his playing is different than almost everything that came before, and even after.

There is really no bad place to start exploring Coltrane's music, as I haven't heard much that isn't phenomenal, across various styles, but his Ken Burns Jazz disc is a pretty good compilation and Giant Steps, Blue Train, My Favorite Things and A Love Supreme are the albums I--and AllMusic.com--find most essential.

In honor of what would have been John Coltrane's 84th birthday, below are four clips from YouTube that go a short but considerable distance in showing why 'Trane continues to blow my mind.

(Note: For those who want to hear the music but don't have time to click through all the videos, the final video below is a "Playlist" that will automatically cycle through the clips I've chosen.)

My Favorite Things - Although most Coltrane records as a group leader primarily include original compositions, his 1961 take on Rogers & Hammerstein's classic from The Sound of Music stands as one of his signature tunes. The audio on this clip isn't quite perfect, but it's worth watching just to see the master at work. And though Coltrane is most famed as a Tenor Sax player, here I think he is playing an Alto Sax. Coltrane's pianist, McCoy Tyner, is also masterful here and I've had the pleasure of seeing him perform several times in the last decade.


Giant Steps - This is a really cool video someone put together for what is probably my single favorite Coltrane track. According to Wikipedia, "The composition is a milestone for jazz musicians' progress, given the difficulty of improvising its rapid progression of chord changes that progress through three keys (see Coltrane changes) shifted by major thirds, creating an augmented triad."


Blue Train - An astonishing Coltrane composition from 1957. This is the studio version accompanied by a nice photo collage.


A Love Supreme - Mentioned in Angel Of Harlem, A Love Supreme is a four-part suite considered one of the greatest recordings in jazz history. This is a brief clip showing Coltrane playing Part 1: Acknowledgement in 1965. The full studio recording of Acknowledgement can be heard here.


As I said above, this is just a "Playlist" that automatically rolls through the four videos above, for the ease of those who prefer to have the music playing in the background.

A Beautiful Day (Late) For U2 Celebrate As The Icon Formerly Known As Paul Hewson Turns 50

Bono, born Paul David Hewson in Dublin, Ireland, on May 10, 1960, is undeniably one of my favorite rock stars.

Yet there are times when I can't stand the guy.

I think he has been, and largely remains, an outstanding front man, excellent singer, occasionally brilliant songwriter and great humanitarian. But I also think he often comes off as a pompous, pretentious and even smug egomaniac.

I have been a huge U2 fan since about 1983, own every album and live DVD they have released and have seen them live 13 times dating back to 1986 (and will again on July 6 at Soldier Field). Their albums include some of my all-time favorites and others I find to be nearly complete duds. And while most concerts have been thrilling, I have found others to be quite disappointing, largely due to Bono's self-aggrandizing overreach.

I think it's unquestionable that Bono has done more to help--or at least bring attention to--poor and oppressed people around the world than almost anyone,  and for that he deserves a healthy dose of appreciation and admiration. Which of course, would only feed his admitted God-complex--What's the difference between God and the lead singer? God knows he's not the lead singer--and I also think while saving the world Bono's songwriting has suffered and he has become, at times, increasingly insufferable.

But despite a love/hate observatory relationship, at the end of the day--in this case the one following his 50th birthday--it's clear that Bono has provided me with much more enjoyment than he has taken away.

And thus I celebrate Bono at 50 with a collection of videos that correlate to how he and U2 have intertwined with my life for more than half of each of ours.

Happy Birthday Paul (after all, you weren't born Bono). From me to U2.

(Video Compilation begins below)