Year 5, Day 340

Afternoon. So today's song is Dancing Queen by ABBA.

We're bringing some ABBA back because I've seen it all over the place because of Mamma Mia 2 coming out. What cinched it though was a video where people were guessing songs and no one could name ABBA as the artist for this which honestly blew my mind. So, let's talk about them. ABBA is called that because the members are Agnetha Fältskog, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson, and Anni-Frid Lyngstad. So it's their first initials. They blew up after being featured in Eurovsion, and actually winning for Sweden. They continued to make music and tour and generally become legends until 1982 when they kind of went away. Technically they never broke up, but the lack of anything for decades kind of speaks for itself. All the members have done solo stuff since and moved on so if you love it, look that up. And if you want more ABBA happiness go check out their songs in Mamma Mia because it's one of my guilty pleasures and I want it to be yours too.

Peace.

Year 5, Day 339

Hey. Today's song is Jump by Van Halen.

So these guys have been active since 1972, but weren't officially known as Van Halen until 1974. They did some self promotion at high schools to get a fan base and then got some club gigs. Gene Simmons ended up making a demo with the band name, but then opting out after his management said they had no chance of making it. It didn't matter though because they were signed by a label and released their debut in 1977. They toured and made albums back to back for years while the animosity between Eddie Van Halen and David Lee Roth continued. This song was on the album 1984 and is still one of the most popular songs, but after that album the feud burst the group apart and even now no one agrees about what exactly happened. The band continued to make music without Roth, and then had meetups with him, only leading to more animosity, which is huge and I don't want to get into it. In any case the Van Halen I care about was in the David Lee Roth era, so enjoy that section right now.

Peace.

Year 5, Day 338

What's Up. Today I give you More Than A Feeling by Boston.

Boston is an American band who have been around since 1976. Three guesses where exactly this band is from. There have been way too many members over the decades to name so we're just going to talk about the group as a whole. It started at MIT, and one of the guys built a recording studio to make their own demos in. This song was actually one of the very first written, coming to life in 1975. They got signed to a label after a live audition, with a contract for ten albums. The name didn't come around until after most of the songs for the debut album were finished. They released a self titled debut in 1976, which was a huge success. Then despite infighting they managed to get the next album out in two years, but they were unhappy with the final product. After that they had to deal with a financial dispute which delayed more of their stuff, so one member created a solo album that featured other members of the group while that got dealt with. CBS sued for breach of contract for not making music fast enough and tried to bully the main songwriter into settling, but ultimately that failed and Boston switched labels. Fuck you CBS, we all know you're crap! Their third album was finally able to be released in 1986 and topped the charts. Their was a lot of member shuffling and renovations of the studio before the next album came out in 1994. A compilation came out in 1997, then a new album in 2002, followed by a tour for the next couple years. Tragically in 2007 the lead singer committed suicide, which is horrible, so again PSA if you feel like you need help please reach out to someone. In 2008 infighting with the band became rampant when a political campaign used one of this song and not all members were cool with it. Some more member shuffling happened after that, and then in 2013 the band's sixth album was released. Since then they've been touring although news on them has been quiet the last year so I don't know what the latest is. I guess we'll find out eventually.

Peace.

Year 5, Day 337

Hello. So today's song is You Can't Always Get What You Want by The Rolling Stones.

This is another famous band from England, active since 1962 and current members include Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Charlie Watts, and Ronnie Wood. It was a previous member of the group, Brian Jones, who named the group on the fly during a phone interview with inspiration from a Muddy Waters song. They did some touring around the country playing covers and gaining fans, becoming the most popular group by 1964, even beating out the Beatles. They shared a manager, who marketed them as the polar opposite of the other group, and got them a record deal with the label who passed on the Beatles before. They continued covering songs, making albums of those and touring with other groups to hone their craft. By 1965 they were releasing original songs that became huge hits. by 1967 they had released a lot of albums, and were being hounded about drug use which was pretty common for artists at the time. After a particularly nasty raid on Richards' home, most band members were charged for drug offenses, furthering their bad boy reputation. The music got a lot angrier too. Jones started to break down from the drug use and was pretty unstable, then left the band because he couldn't handle touring. He died a month later. The group toured, and then fulfilled their last contractual obligation (the fine print way. They did it without making something for release) before starting their own label and releasing an album through that. The logo that everyone associates with this group was created in 1971 and was inspired by the Hindu goddess Kali. The 70's saw them as tax exiles, no longer able to live in England. More drug charges popped up, messing with their tour. This pattern continued for awhile. In the early 80's their was tension in the band, since Jagger became more focused on solo work than the group, and that grew until the band almost broke up because of it. Instead the band kind of stalled while Richards and Jagger both did their own solo stuff with no desire to reconcile. That ended in 1989 when the band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. They made new music, toured and took breaks for solo work the next couple years; and even became the first major group to broadcast a concert on the internet. They've kept going, and are still going strong today. I can't fathom that they have celebrated their 50th anniversary, it's insane to me. I also can't really imagine the hype about this group, but they are one of the big ones so look up some documentaries if you're curious to learn more.

Peace.

Year 5, Day 336

Morning. Today's song is Every Breath You Take by The Police.

This is a British rock band that was active from 1977 until 1986, then briefly came back for a year in 2007. Famously, the members were Sting, Stewart Copeland, Henry Padovani, and Andy Summers. Okay, I've always wondered why he's called Sting, and apparently it's because the jersey he wore was very...bee like. Copeland and Sting had both been in bands before forming this group with Henry. When Sting was invited to join a band project, they met Summers. Summers wanted them to get rid of Henry in favor of him, which the others resisted at first but ultimately complied with. Trios were rare at the time, and it set them apart from other groups; then the added benefit of trademark blonde hair (from a shelved commercial) made them memorable. I don't think I've ever seen a picture of the band before today so this is the first I'm hearing about the hair but it reminds me of the day in junior high when half the boys in my grade came to school with bleach blonde locks. I went to school with a lot of hockey kids and apparently their teams had to either shave their heads or bleach. It was a weird day. The Police got really successful, one of the first new wave groups to earn mainstream success, and released five albums in six years. In 1984 the group went on hiatus so Sting could pursue a solo career which freed up the other to do the same. They got back together in 1986 to play some gigs and talked about making a new album, but Sting wasn't really into it and Copeland got wrecked by a horse and couldn't play, so ultimately the group disbanded. Two decades later there was a fad of groups coming back and, like I said yesterday, capitalizing on the nostalgia play. The Police were one of the groups to do it, getting together for a 30th anniversary tour. Sting was always adamant that he would never get back with the group and seemed to think he was way better than them, so his "change of heart" to do this tour... I call bullshit. He seems like a tool to me. So does Summers too since he started a mutiny of sorts. Copeland seems okay and Henry got a really bad deal so for those guys I wish them well.

Peace.

Year 5, Day 335

Hi guys. So today's song is Can't Fight This Feeling by REO Speedwagon.

The group formed in 1967 when Neal Doughty became friends with Alan Gratzer who left his band to form this one bringing Mike Blair and Joe Matt with him. They named the group after a type of truck which is an interesting tidbit that I should have guessed but didn't. For the next couple years the guitarist position switched person to person until Gary Richrath joined in 1970. By then they had also added in Terry Luttrell to the group. They got signed in 1971 and released their first album the same year. Then we had a lead singer shuffle, with a new frontman for every year and every album for their first three albums. The position was eventually solidified in 1976 with Kevin Cronin. The next year they released a live album, and the bassist Gregg Philbin was replaced. By the 1980's they found their mainstream success with a switch to hard rock. They released albums consistently throughout the decade with big hits and breaking records for audience sizes, but then their popularity declined. Gratzer retired from music and Richrath quit, so Cronin brought on some musicians he knew. The next album was a failure and kind of stalled the band out. Meanwhile Richrath had started another band, but once in awhile he joined REO for stage performances. REO lost their record contract, and every label they went to after that went under (which is a weird fact) do their next album was self-released... but ultimately went unnoticed. They had a few hits in the 2000's but ultimately toured with the old material, capitalizing on the nostalgia play. They've kept doing that even up to this year, so if you're a big fan you can look up so tour dates.

Peace.

Year 5, Day 334

Hello everyone. Today I give you Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now by Starship.

This group is out of the flames of Jefferson Starship. There was a huge lawsuit where no one from the original group (Jefferson Airplane) was allowed to use either word without express permission of everyone else, therefore Starship. This band has had a lot of member shuffling with a huge list of past members so I'm not going to list everyone. So the band was active from 1984 to 1991, and then 1992 until now... although from 1992 and on they've been known as Starship featuring Mickey Thomas. The year hiatus was actually because of their label who dropped the band in favor of the singer (Thomas) doing solo things, but then he revived the group, although with almost a completely new line up. I'm kind of okay with him taking them on again, because he's had to get his face reconstructed because of a fight with an old member. He's given a lot to do it so I say let him have it.

Okay, this is the 100th music ask, and the last one. And in honor of it being the end, we need a song that expresses how we felt being asked to answer these questions. My grandma picked Fun, Fun, Fun by The Beach Boys. My mom seemed the happiest doing these, saying Alive by Hedley. Then Sammy went with Shut Up by Simple Plan, and Will decided on Don't Stop Me Now by Queen. I can’t believe it’s over. I have the strange urge to channel my inner Porky the Pig with a That’s All Folks! Hope you enjoyed this mess.

Peace.