Over the years, I have wandered into some music related posts on what is an outdoor blog. I call them “Trip Tunes” as they are a list of the Top 10 tunes that I encounter on the radio dial on my drive to the fishing hole. Well, the feature is back for 2023 so away we go.
10. Live to Tell – Madonna (1986)
Not much of a Madonna fan but she was all over the radio and MTV when I was a teenager, and I vote this one as her best. A haunting tune from an interesting movie, At Close Range.
9. Good Day Sunshine – The Beatles (1966)
You don’t hear The Beatles enough on the radio these days. Therefore, it’s always a treat and you can’t help but smile and sing along to this happy ditty.
8. Over the Mountain – Ozzy Osbourne (1981)
This one chugs along musically with an entertaining lyrical delivery and a batch of Randy Rhoads guitar work that is all over the place. Guitar solos that sound like they belong in several different songs but all part of the fun of the early Ozzy albums.
7. Funk #49 – James Gang (1970)
Joe Walsh had me at “Life’s Been Good” back in 1978. Later, I would discover that he was a member of this gang and always an interesting oddball before becoming an Eagle. But, seriously folks, is there anyone more fun in rock and roll than this talented, entertaining, legendary performer?
6. Baker Street – Gerry Rafferty (1978)
I love the radio and this one takes me back to WLS 890 AM and summer nights with a bedside clock radio. You know, the kind with the flip numbers. I often ponder musical lists and this one would get a spot on the best intro and best sax solo rankings.
5. Dream On – Aerosmith (1973)
It’s crazy to think how long these guys have been around. Maybe a bit too long in terms of some of their 90s chart success but who am I to judge? I like a lot of their 70s stuff, a handful of the 80s cuts, and one tune after that. My two cents are that their oldest single remains their best. Fifty years after the recording of “Dream On,” I still stop on the radio dial and sing along.
4. Rich Girl – Hall and Oates (1977)
Once upon a time, I was a nine-year-old kid wondering, “Did they just sing that word on the radio?” Well, it does rhyme with rich. Cool, but you’ve got to be careful to not sing that word around certain company. Just a great song and fun memory as now I can sing whatever I want, wherever I want. And funny that my boy, Zac, left out a word in “Black Betty” as he was singing along yesterday (not the “B” word, but the “D” word).
3. Use Ta Be My Girl – The O’Jays (1978)
What a fun, smooth song for a tune about losing your lady. Fortunately, I still have my girl and my favorite lines from the fellows in this cut offer up, “Not only good lookin’, the girl was so smart, can’t beat her cookin’”. What more could a guy ask for?
2. Band on the Run – Paul McCartney & Wings (1974)
I distinctly remember the summer of 1974 and the popularity of this tune on the radio dial as it made its way to the top of the Billboard chart. It was my favorite song and its peak coincided with a trip to the Wisconsin Dells with my grandparents and cousin. Early radio memories with the tune hitting #1 after “The Streak” and prior to “Billy Don’t Be a Hero.” Those were the days.
1. We Just Disagree – Dave Mason (1977)
I mentioned song lists in a blurb about an earlier cut and this tune would garner a high ranking on my ultimate list. Definitely a Top 10, probably a Top 5 on my personal all-time greatest hits list. A great sentiment on relationships over forty-five years after its release but I must be careful about what I write these days and “leave it alone, ‘cause we can’t see eye to eye” and I’ll leave it at that.
Been a while since I did one of these and I have to say that I miss my musical strolls down Memory Lane. And I do have another set of Trip Tunes waiting in the wings should I get around to another post. Talk to you later. Troy