A New Year’s Eve highlight while growing up was something called “The Big 89 Countdown” featured on Chicago’s WLS 890 AM radio. The annual rundown of each year’s hits ran from 1967 through 1986 with my listening heyday being the mid-70s into the 80s. The countdown would kick off in the evening and run you right up to the midnight reveal of the year’s top tune. Awesome stuff for a young radio buff, stat kid and fan of countdowns/lists. Call me a goof, but I actually used to get out the notebook paper and make my own list as the disc jockeys spun the way to number one.

Oh, what a countdown, late December back in 1976…the rest of the archives can be found by clicking here

Here on the blog I have managed to find a way to work in some of those old tunes under the guise of outdoor stuff with a feature that I call “Top 10 Trip Tunes.” For those not familiar with the concept, I compile a list of the Top 10 songs that grace the airwaves during the round trip to the fishing hole (typically an hour or so each way). Thus far, these blog postings have racked up a total of 115 tunes (a shorter outing featured only a Top 5) going back to the first go round from a September 2, 2017 outing.

So, what the heck, it’s time for some stats as we bid farewell to the old year and welcome the new.

Top 10 Trip Tunes – Top Artists (by appearance)
4 – Led Zeppelin
3 – Blondie
Boston
The Cars
ELO
Jackson Browne
Jefferson Starship
Orleans

Top 10 Trip Tunes – Top Decades
1970s – 77 tunes
1980s – 28 tunes
1960s – 6 tunes
1990s – 2 tunes
2000s – 1 tune
2010s – 1 tune

Top 10 Trip Tunes – Top 10 Years (including my Top Hit)
1978 – 19 tunes (Right Down the Line – Gerry Rafferty)
1975 – 12 tunes (Wish You Were Here – Pink Floyd)
1979 – 11 tunes (Fool in the Rain – Led Zeppelin)
1976 – 9 tunes (The Boys are Back in Town – Thin Lizzy)
1981 – 8 tunes (Watching the Wheels – John Lennon)
1980 – 7 tunes (Stomp – The Brothers Johnson)
1973 – 6 tunes (Reelin’ in the Years – Steely Dan)
1977 – 6 tunes (Lido Shuffle – Boz Scaggs)
1970 – 4 tunes (Your Song – Elton John)
1972 – 4 tunes (Doctor My Eyes – Jackson Browne)
1974 – 4 tunes (Killer Queen – Queen)

Okay, I won’t keep you any longer as I’ve fed my music fix for the time being. Kind of fun for me and up for interpretation as to whether it says more about the listener or the formats of my favorite presets on the truck radio dial. Plenty more hits were included along those rides and I suspect that there will be several more batches as the 2019 fishing season unfolds.

For tonight, I suggest that you find some of your favorite tunes, old or new, and crank ‘em up as you count down the final hours of 2018. Happy New Year to all and talk to you later. Troy

Hey, let’s do this again.

And one better than a Top 10 in “turning it up to 11” as I just had too many good cuts to choose from on this particular trek to the Knox County strip mines.

11. Youth Gone Wild – Skid Row (1989) – For a number of years I had trouble coming to grips with my affliction for that interesting period of rock music when “hair” bands roamed the radio and television dial. But then I just flat out decided that I like it (and I know you like it too). Many great high voices (tone and otherwise) rocked the airwaves but tough to beat Sebastian Bach’s pipes when he wailed away. Rock has long been the domain of the rebel and this offering represents an anthem for the hair generation. Additionally, kind of cool when you can work your band name into the lyrics (see also Boston, Bad Company, The Who…)

10. Midnight Blue – Lou Gramm (1987) – Anybody ever associate a particular song with a time or a place or a person? Of course you have, that’s what good tune does. Anybody else hitting that age where you recall something and then wonder if the memory is correct? In the case of this song, I seem to recall a lefty on the Knox College baseball squad nicknamed Giddy who really dug this cut and I do too. Giddy, I know you’re out there, if you read this let me know if I’ve got it right or simply losing my mind.

9. Let It Whip – Dazz Band (1982) – Speaking of Knox College, back in the early 80s the college radio station, WVKC 90.7FM, used to feature a weekly program focusing on a mix of funk, hip hop, rap, post-disco and R&B infused pop. Interesting stuff for a kid normally tuned in to WLS 89AM or the local Top 40 station, Q93. Spent many of those Saturday nights tuned into “The Voice” as the station was nicknamed (Sunday nights was Dr. Demento on 97X). Anyway, what a treat it was to hear stuff like this one or “Controversy” by Prince or “White Horse” by Laid Back or “Take Your Time Do It Right” by The S.O.S. Band or “The Breaks” by Kurtis Blow or “The Message” by Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five or…time to revisit these jams on the internet once I get this post completed.

8. Wasted on the Way – Crosby, Stills & Nash (1982) – This is another one of those cuts that hits a little closer to home these days than it did when released in the summer before my sophomore year of high school. Would make a nice addition to side two of a cassette tape along with “Time” from Pink Floyd, “Running on Empty” from Jackson Browne, “Long May You Run” from Neil Young and “Like a Rock” from Bob Seger. “Oh when you were young…”

7. Sooner or Later – The Grass Roots (1971) – Dare you not to sing along to this catchy love song. Plenty of vocal roles to choose from, too. Maybe you’re a lead singer, perhaps you opt for harmony, possibly just pitch in with the punctuated “time”, “mind”, “when”, “again”, take part in a little call and response or go ahead and let it all hang out during an improvised finale. Just one of those make you feel good, could listen to it all day, they don’t make ‘em like that anymore tunes.

6. The Ballad of Curtis Loew – Lynyrd Skynyrd (1974) – Discovered this one rather late. Never was much of an album kid, didn’t have any money after buying baseball cards, so never heard this tune until sometime in the 90s on the radio. Knew who it was right away but not quite what it was and always a treat to find something old on the dial that’s brand new to my ear. Great story song about a wonderful piece of common ground called music.

How’s that for a blog entry? You get Curtis Loew and Kurtis Blow all in one post. And on an “outdoor” blog to boot! Now that’s some good stuff. Part II tomorrow to finish off our eleven songs for the price of ten. Talk to you later. Troy

Hey, haven’t done one of these for a while and too busy to fish so here we go. This one was actually compiled during my last solo bass fishing outing back on July 28. Too busy to write, too.

10. Afternoon Delight – Starland Vocal Band (1976) – Okay, so gotta make the short list of dirtiest songs of all-time and extra fun because it was one of my favorites as an eight or nine year old kid back in the Bicentennial. Even has a fishing verse tucked away in there. But nowadays, with a 51-year old body and four kids running around the house all the time, a little afternoon delight is more like a nap.

9. Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In – The Fifth Dimension (1969) – Always dug this groovy ditty from when I was way too young to actually recall its original release. Must have caught it on the airwaves and seems like there was an album around the house. And what a beautiful lady and voice in Marilyn McCoo. Still a cool cut nearly 50 years later as my oldest daughter, Helena, took a liking to it when featured as a tune in a recent performance of her Quad City Music Guild group.

8. Love Takes Time – Orleans (1979) – I believe this completes the run of Orleans Top 40 hits as their two previous qualifiers have already been featured in Top 10 Trip Tunes (see “Dance With Me” and “Still The One”). Just one of those mellow tunes that finds me off in search of a playlist with the likes of Firefall, Poco, Pablo Cruise, England Dan and John Ford Coley, Ambrosia, Pure Prairie League…

7. Junior’s Farm – Paul McCartney & Wings (1974) – Kind of rock and roll meets Dr. Seuss. I really have no idea and it really doesn’t matter. Good old Sir Paul with a battery of hooks so no surprise that this one always catches my ear. Quite a cast of characters including an Eskimo, a card dealer, a politician and Ollie Hardy. And how about trios of rhyming words like “Parliament”, “President” and “cement” as well as “sense”, “fence” and “pence”? How fun would it be to have such lyrical talent?

6. China Grove – The Doobie Brothers (1973) – This whole internet thing can get distracting, weird and even a bit addictive but it’s totally worth it when it comes to song lyrics. Anybody else out there been singing the wrong words or substituting some runs of gibberish for decades? “Samurai swords”, huh? Makes perfect sense, sorta. At any rate an outstanding piece of 70s classic rock from a band with a little bit of everything sonically thrown into the mix. Hits you right from the start, ends without much warning and keeps driving all the way in between.

Round two tomorrow with another batch of classics. Talk to you later. Troy

 

On the road around 4:00am on a Father’s Day morning fishing trip. Wonder if I can find anything worthwhile on the radio dial? Yep, not an issue finding some tunes worthy of the latest Top 10 Trip Tunes. Part I today, Part II tomorrow.

10. Undun – The Guess Who (1969) – Mentioned in a Top 10 edition from last year that you just don’t hear this band’s work very often on the airwaves so when this one hit my ears it was an automatic inclusion. Written by band member, Randy Bachman, later of Bachman-Turner Overdrive; moody, jazzy, and a flute solo. Also kind of fun with the deliberate misspelling of the title, I dig that stuff (band names as well, put on those musical thinking caps…)

9. Miami 2017 (Seen the Lights Go Out on Broadway) – Billy Joel (1976) – I’ve always liked “story songs” and this one fits the bill with a native New Yorker penning a song that looks forward from the perspective of someone looking back. Gotta admire the effort from a songwriter who knew his subject, and besides, it is a fun ride musically as well. Don’t know much about New York City and its troubles in the 70s but pretty bad shape. Not a big city guy, too many people, too much hustle and bustle and in the case of my state, too much corruption. Perhaps I should get to work on a ditty about Chicago breaking free from the rest of us “downstate” and becoming its own solitary island afloat somewhere out on Lake Michigan.

8. Da Ya Think I’m Sexy – Rod Stewart (1978) – Don’t answer…This one occupies a spot that takes me back to a kid on the verge of becoming a teenager and brings to mind a new television music countdown program known as “Solid Gold.” Now, I had long dug my 70s tunes on the radio but getting a weekly look at some eye catching dancers to go along with my music, well, let’s just say “Wow!” Also an awkward time when a song like this came on the radio when riding somewhere with your folks, much less the music video, makes you feel like singing along but not sure if it’s appropriate…Fast forward about 40 years and I just hope my kids don’t really have a clue what most of the current stuff on the radio is all about yet.

7. The Zoo – Scorpions (1980) – A classic rocker, this was probably my top pick on the jukebox at a local watering hole known as “G.P.s Lounge” where once upon a time me and my buddies spent more than a few evenings, and nights and afternoons…More than a few quarters invested in this one and some darts and just a few cold ones.

6. Fly By Night – Rush (1975) – Very fitting that this one came over the airwaves at 5:02am, still dark on my escape to the fishing hole while any young anglers who may wish to tag along were still snuggly tucked in bed. Just had to grin at the timing. I’ve got this mental list of favorite lyrics and this song features a few lines that will make that list one of these days, maybe when I start up a music blog, yeah right, got time for that. Anyway, “Quiet and pensive, my thoughts apprehensive” is pure genius, might trade fishing for such literary ability.

Five down, five to go, back tomorrow. Talk to you later. Troy

Back with another distraction from my latest drive to the fishing hole. Only 25 minutes to my destination, Lost Grove Lake in this case, and I was concerned that I may only get a “Top 5” off the radio dial. But I needn’t have worried as the presets that span the airwaves came through yet again.

10. Blurry – Puddle of Mud (2001) – Well, not the most uplifting song but still stops me in my search across the radio dial. Glad that I can only relate on a sonic level and dig the emotion without being vested. I understand that the singer is a real piece of work but those experiences and the fallout are how you get tunes like this one. Yet another piece of this musical fascination, several minutes of escape that can mean a lot of things to a lot of people.

9. Still The One – Orleans (1976) – Great sing along song, cool harmonies and one of those cuts that gets me to thinking “I could’ve written that” even though it’s not quite that easy. Classic love song formula in the vein of Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s “How do I love thee? Let me count the ways…” Well, “you’re still the one that…” and you’re off and running. Now, for better or worse, what other outdoor website is gonna go there? And tell me you’re not opening a new browser tab to revisit this cut.

8. My Life – Billy Joel (1978) – Takes me back to recording my favorite songs off my old clock radio with a cassette tape player, all the while hoping my siblings would be quiet for 4:44. A few years later I could listen to the recorded cut on my “52nd Street” 8-track tape via the radio/phono/8-track stereo. Prized possessions long gone but fondly remembered.

7. Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’ (1983) – Side One, Track One on my cassette tape of the legendary “Thriller” album. Jackson was definitely in the zone and just killing it on my favorite television channel, the still new MTV. And still a hit as my kids dig this cut and a slew of other Michael Jackson tunes all these years later. And I used to wonder, is he singing “you’re a vegetable”? Indeed, he was. Gotta be a superstar to pull that one off.

6. Get Down Tonight – KC & the Sunshine Band (1975) – Makes you smile, makes you move, makes you sing. Harry Casey’s formula of groove and repetition was magic back then and still a winner today. And I always dig what I call “horny songs”, you know, cuts with a horn section (see Chicago, Kool & the Gang, Earth Wind & Fire…). KC and his crew were right on the money and those “horny songs” took on a dual meaning beyond the brass upon being a few years removed from an 8-year old kid in the summer of 1975.

Top 5 up tomorrow and the variety continues with some New Wave, a leading lady, Southern Rock, Prog Rock and a singer/songwriter. Ain’t music great? Talk to you tomorrow. Troy