I dig my tunes as much as I dig my fishing so the “Trip Tunes” feature is back for another year. For those who are unaware of the project, I document the Top 10 tunes that I hear on the fishing round trip and ramble a bit on each cut. Dating back to the debut of the concept in September 2017, the list now contains over two hundred different tunes.

10. We’re Not Gonna Take It – Twisted Sister (1984)
Lots of things for a person of my age to point out in the video for this anthemic protest song. Sure, folks will say, “Hey, isn’t that Neidermeyer?” in reference to the father figure’s iconic “Animal House” role. But what about the appearance of Robin Yount, one of my all-time favorite baseball players on a poster in the boy’s room? Not to mention the attention-grabbing garb, glam and grit of the band mixed in with some Three Stooges worthy slapstick.

9. Heading Out to The Highway – Judas Priest (1981)
While I was admittedly tuned into Top 40 radio at the time, early MTV was a real eye opener. This video got regular airplay and struck a chord to broaden the horizons with a little heavy metal. What a wonderful musical menagerie in those days where one could hop from Priest to Madness to Blondie to Adam & The Ants to .38 Special and more in the span of an afternoon.

8. Immigrant Song – Led Zeppelin (1970)
As my kids would say, “It’s the Thor song” after its inclusion in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. A good fit, all things considered. Epic, adventurous, mythic, references “the hammer of the gods”, interchange Valhalla and Asgard…Those Zep guys were pretty creative and from what I understand the use of their tune in Thor cost the film financiers a pretty penny.

7. Flying High Again – Ozzy Osbourne (1981)
Like Judas Priest, I was introduced to Ozzy in junior high. A buddy of mine tuned me into the first two Ozzy solo albums (Blizzard of Oz and Diary of a Madman) and that stuff was rather cool. Just a bit different than Billy Joel, Christopher Cross, Donna Summer, Kool & The Gang or The Commodores. I was always fascinated by the country performer, Mel Tillis, who stuttered when speaking but flawlessly delivered his tunes. Well, Ozzy enunciates just fine in his tunes too, but otherwise you can’t understand a thing he says.

6. What’s Your Name – Lynyrd Skynyrd (1977)
I am a mental collector of lyrics and among my favorite opening lines is “Well, its eight o’clock in Boise, Idaho.” For the life of me I cannot think of another tune that references that exact location and that is cool (Note: “I’ve Been Everywhere” doesn’t count because, well, he’s been everywhere). Plenty of love for New York, Chicago, or L.A. in musical history so a thumbs up to giving the “Gem State’ some props. However, the bar incident in the lyrics did not actually occur in Boise. No problem, I still dig the line and the tune. As a result, my favorite Idaho shout out now belongs to Napoleon Dynamite, slightly edging out Evel Knievel and his Snake River Canyon stunt.

Nostalgia, bordering on nonsense is sometimes the name of the game when I head off on these tangents. Here’s hoping something along the way triggers you to do a little internet exploring and reminiscing of your own. Part II on the way. Talk to you later. Troy