Darkness Approaching

 Song 741: This week the playlist recognizes Here Comes the Night by Them, written by Bert Berns, and you can find a YouTube video of it by clicking on the title. While this informing uplift came along in the early spring of 1965, it seems more appropriate to applaud its observations during the early fall period when days have begun to get noticeably shorter. A year before these attentive notes arrived, the Fab Four had rocked my world, and after becoming a fan of that moving quartet, I soon got to know and appreciate a bunch of their fellow British Invaders, including Them. I could understand how seeing another guy holding a former lover the way I used to do could make me wonder what is wrong with me but experiencing such sadness still would never make me want to die.

Swaying Under Lunar Illumination

Song 740: This week the playlist applauds Dancing in the Moonlight by King Harvest, written by Sherman Kelly, and you can find a YouTube video of it by clicking on the title. Around this time in the fall of 1972, as my wife and I searched for an apartment on the south end of Evanston, IL, we started hearing about how making certain moves after dark could and would alleviate particular types of anxiety. I did not at the time look forward to the coming Windy City area frigid season, but it did feel good to imagine that on a somewhat-cool night, dancin' in the moonlight could make someone feel warm and right. The fundamentalist family where I grew up had not approved of dancing, and had never allowed my 2 brothers and/or me to ever do it in any way, but soon after I had left that home a few years before this hit arrived, I got to appreciate how sharing moves with a special attractive partner could feel like a supernatural delight. 

Fantasy Follower

 Song 739: This week the playlist puts the spotlight on Daydream Believer by The Monkees, written by John Stewart, and you can find a cool YouTube video of it by clicking on the title. This musing vision came along around this time in 1967, soon after I began my junior HS year and our school's football team had their homecoming event (which it again had a couple of days ago). While my parents and grandparents did not approve of the devil's music, I did get to experience the Monkees more than a lot of other rockers I liked because of their TV show, which I sometimes got to watch when the folks were not around. That being the case, I quickly learned a number of their tunes and could soon sing along with them. Back then, my good times would often start and end without dollar one to spend because my family had very little money available for entertainment, but they did manage to figure out inexpensive ways to generate pleasure, such as by hiking in the Adirondack Park. I also appreciated my folks providing me with an electric shaver in my last year or two of HS, so I never had to use a shavin' razor that was cold and that stings.

Jagged Jewel

 Song 738: Seven weeks after my previous personal friend song post, this week's ruffled gem Diamond in the Rough comes from one of my Berkeley, CA, comrades Shawn Colvin.The song was written by Shawn Colvin and John Leventhal, and you can find a cool YouTube video of it by clicking on the title. She and her musical partner Jim Bruno had both moved from Illinois to the East Bay area around the time that I did that in the summer of 1978, and in the spring of 1979, I met them at this small folkie spot in San Francisco. I had already gotten roped into the Berkeley singer/songwriter circle, and I invited them to do the same thing, which they did do after their second open mic performance at the pizza place where we all hung out. Shawn soon became one of the stars of that circle, but then in the summer of 1986, she moved to NYC. When I did a trip there the following summer, I got to see her perform at The Bottom Line in Manhattan, and I really enjoyed her set. A year later, I moved to NYC, and soon after I did, I had a copy of Shawn's LIVE TAPE cassette, which opens with this melodic rhinestone, and it didn't take long to start singing along with it. Even in the present, every now and then I can see that I'm getting somewhere, and though last night I lost too much sleep, hopefully tonight I'm gonna find it.

Supply Shortage

Song 737: This week on the playlist you can hear Can't Get Enough by Bad Company, written by Mick Ralphs, and you can find a YouTube video of it by clicking on the title. My wife and I fled the frigid Windy City region in February of 1974 and soon found a really pleasant spot to reside in the milder area of Atlanta, GA. Our attractive apartment had a nice comfortable front porch where I often spent time strumming my 6-string axe and also listening to the local radio station sharing the current chart toppers, which included this melodic deficiency compliment. Back then, I could not picture how a romantic partner might hang me up in a doorway, or even how love could break me in two, but as a typical young male with high testosterone levels, I sure did know how it feels when you can't get enough of someone's love.

Bouncing Crimson Globe

 Song 736: This week the playlist features Red Rubber Ball by The Cyrkle, written by Paul Simon and Bruce Woodley, and you can find a YouTube video of it by clicking on the title. Initially when the Beatles rocked my world in February of 1964, I mostly paid attention to them and their fellow British Invaders, but by the time this single came along in the summer of 1966, I had widened my ear radar to whatever climbed into the Top 40, and it didn't take long to learn the chorus of this chart topper and sing along with it. During that stretch, as a young male teenager I admired the attractive females that I shared HS classtime with, but I did not have a romantic connection with one, or even a focused amorous dream, so when I mouthed the tune I didn't picture anyone in particular as its target. In fact, at the time, it bothered me that I hadn't yet had a rollercoaster ride, regardless of the outcome, and I hoped that soon I might get to find a starfish in the sea.

Triangular Currency

 Song 735: This week the playlist comes around to Three Dollar Bill by Maria Muldaur, written by Mac Rebennack, and you can find a YouTube video of it by clicking on the title. Ms. MM started grabbing our ears around the end of the summer 51 years ago by telling us about an evening excursion at a haven (which is Song 560), and not only did I like what I heard, but I pictured a very attractive young woman mouthing that melody. Soon enough I got a copy of her initial LP and her appearance on the disc’s cover did look erotically-appealing to a young man in his early twenties. That 33 got a lot of spins on the turntable, so when this third hit from the album climbed the charts, I could already sing along with it. I had decided back then that whatever I could afford to spend on music I liked I would put towards records I could hear repeatedly, so I went to very few concerts in my younger years, but around the time I turned 30, while living in the East Bay of CA, I did get to see a show Maria did, so she became an exception to that rule. When growing up, my parents had regularly gotten me copies of Mad Magazine, so I did know about their three dollar bill, and when doing research for this piece, I found images of such a currency with a picture of Bill Clinton, Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, so I guess now each one of them is a three dollar bill that spent some time kissin' babies and hustlin' votes.