It’s tough to stay caught up on my Trip Tunes but I have such a fun time listening and reminiscing that I take the better late than never approach.

5. Hot Child in the City – Nick Gilder (1978)
This one hit wonder took his pop tune all the way to the top of the Billboard charts in a year dominated by disco. Interestingly, it was preceded at #1 on the charts by Exile’s “Kiss You All Over” which could loosely be labelled disco and was followed by Ann Murray’s “You Needed Me”, not even close. All in all, a fun year on the Billboard chart and “Hot Child…” was certainly a highlight.

4. Sausalito Summernight – Diesel (1981)
Another one hit wonder, this song peaked at #25 on the Billboard chart in September 1981. While researching some information on this tune, I found that it received substantial airplay on Chicago’s WLS, which likely explains why I purchased the 45 pictured above. WLS was that king of the airwaves on my clock radio for many years but by 1981 it was sharing my allegiance with a Galesburg station WGBQ (aka Q93).

3. Elenore – The Turtles (1968)
What a tribute to your best gal when the lyrics refer to her as “swell”, “groovy”, and “et cetera.” And “groovy” rhymes with “movie” where “They’ll turn the lights way down low, maybe we won’t watch the show.” Timeless.

2. Break It Up – Foreigner (1982)
Among the tracks on Foreigner’s smash album “4”, this one is my favorite. It is a rare occasion when you hear it on the radio as “Urgent”, “Juke Box Hero” and “Waiting for a Girl Like You” overshadow this lost single that peaked at #26 on the Billboard chart.

1. Roll on Down the Highway – Bachman Turner Overdrive (1975)
Suppose that someone unfamiliar with the genre asked you to provide an example of “rock music.” Well, you would be right on target with this driving tune about driving. Gruff, powerful, occasionally incomprehensible vocals paired with musicians hitting on all cylinders is an absolute treat. And once I understood the lyrics, I must say that my favorites lines are “The time’s real short you know the distance is long, I’d like to have a jet but it’s not in the song.”

More hits on the way. Talk to you later. Troy

The hits keep coming…

5. Light My Fire – The Doors (1967)
I like lots of songs for lots of reasons and this one’s got plenty. Fun organ, powerful vocals, guitar gymnastics and “fire” becomes a two-syllable word. I have also done a word exercise with the family for years that resembles “see how many words you can rhyme with”, in this case “fire.” And The Doors do a weird and wonderful job with “no time to wallow in the mire” and “funeral pyre.”

4. The Weight – The Band (1968)
I’ve referenced artists flying under the radio radar a couple times during my earlier musical rambles. The Band fits that category and once again it’s been an enjoyable ride through their catalog as I put this post together. With the passing of Garth Hudson earlier this year, all the original members are gone. What a blend of voices on this one as they relate choices, consequences, and the resulting loads we bear. And what a hook for a chorus as it packs some heft, befitting of “The Weight.”

3. Play That Funky Music – Wild Cherry (1976)
This song was awesome for a nine-year old and it remains awesome close to fifty years later. And that’s my original 45 in the picture above. A brief bit of searching on the internet put the price of a 45 record at $1.49 in 1976. I suppose that was a fair amount of cash for a nine-year old kid that could have also been invested in quite a few packs of baseball cards. In this case, “dancing and singing and moving to the grooving” won out over a possible Willie Stargell, Johnny Bench or Nolan Ryan.

2. Summer Breeze – Seals & Croft (1972)
As I type this up, the days are getting longer, and summer is officially less than a month away. However, with Memorial Day in the rearview mirror and another year in the books for Julie and those we still have in school, isn’t it really summer already? And as far as summer songs go, this one is tops. While the lyrics don’t specifically reference any of the following, this song brings back memories of swimming pools, baseball games, cookouts, campouts, sleepovers, and “not a care in the world.”

1. Can’t Find My Way Home – Blind Faith (1969)
I’ve always dug this tune, and it is an example of how songs strike you in different ways in different moods or circumstances. During this listen on the ride to the fishing hole it brought back a funny fishing memory. Once upon a time, me, Brent, and a couple of the Junk brothers (John and Mark) were on our way to a Victoria area strip mine, Green Oaks, for the first time. We’d received directions from the Knox College baseball coach, Tim Heimann. Something like “take Fremont Road until it ends and take a right”. Well, that road has so many turns, and we took the wrong right, got lost and were nowhere in the neighborhood. Fast forward forty years and I can get to those strip mines on multiple roads from various directions, perhaps even with my eyes closed. But there was a time when I was in the situation of I “Can’t Find My Way to the Fishing Hole.”

Two more fishing reports and ten more trip tunes to go to get caught up. Talk to you later. Troy

The shorter drive to The Canal results in shorter lists and in this case a combination of two trips for the tunes. In addition, during baseball season, sometimes the Cubs pre-empt the cuts on the radio. For today’s list we have symbolism, metaphor, a mythical(?) monster, a “Holy” song, and a fishing lyric. Read on for the ramble.

5. Synchronicity II – The Police (1983)
Growing up, I was a fan of mysterious creatures, collectively referred to as “cryptids.” So, how cool was it to hear a hitmaker of the day incorporate the Loch Ness Monster into a tune. Grown up, I relate to the rest of the lyrics during those times when adulting has you teetering on the line “he knows that something somewhere has to break.” So far, so good, though.

4. Trampled Under Foot – Led Zeppelin (1975)
I’ve always had trouble getting these lyrics down in my head, so the internet is a wonderful thing. No matter that I continue to mumble most of my way through it, this pedal to the metal jam is still a treat. I’m not a car guy, never been much of a mechanic but I definitely buy the metaphors that these guys are selling. On a side note, it is fun as I listen to each of these songs several times as I compose these thoughts. And duh, we are talking Stevie Wonder here, I’d never registered that during the countless times that I’ve heard this tune.

3. Everything I Own – Bread (1972)
In the days before you could find most everything you wanted to know about artists and songs with a click, you were left to your own interpretations. And sure, that can still be the case as songs mean different things to different listeners. But somewhere in the last ten years or so I saw a conversation with David Gates that blew my perspective of this tune clean out of the water. He’d actually written the song about his late father.

2. Holy Diver – Dio (1983)
Big news last week with the selection of a new pope, and by strange coincidence I end up with a “Holy” song on the list. Anyway, the metal legend, Ronnie James Dio, rocks out as usual as this cut chugs along. And with the advent of music video, we also get to see him save the day in some sort of Conan the Barbarian fashion. Take it for what it’s worth as some of those guys would not be mistaken for polished actors or catalog models. Which is exactly the way it should be.

1. Don’t Ask Me No Questions – Lynyrd Skynyrd (1974)
What I do for a living is a far cry from this whole fishing escape and these southern rockers hit the nail on the head. Knowing that any second could feature a call, text, or email from some four hundred users with any of a thousand issues from those magical little boxes that comprise a modern network can get you a bit stressed. This song ranked #2 on my “Fishing Lines” series from August of 2021 and sums up my decompression time quite well.

“So don’t ask me no questions
And I won’t tell you no lies
So don’t ask me about my business
And I won’t tell you good-bye
I said, ‘Don’t ask no stupid questions
And I won’t send you away’
If you want to talk fishin’
I guess that would be okay.”

And that is most of what I do here on the blog. With the occasional tangent into music, of course. I have been back on the water since these early May outings so stay tuned for another fishing report (and the applicable tunes). Talk to you later. Troy

A longer drive to and from the fishing hole on this trip means an expanded batch of tunes.

10. YMCA – Village People (1978)
Raise your hand if you have ever been to a wedding reception where the DJ played this gem. Better yet, raise both your hands and, well, you know. As an eleven-year-old kid in the fall of 1978, this one was a winner whether on the radio or at Skate Palace. Over forty-five years later, I still get a kick out of hearing this song as it takes me back in time and I even sing (and sometimes dance) along. (Yes, that is my original 45 pictured above but need a record player)

9. So Into You – Atlanta Rhythm Section (1977)
This band always slips through the cracks for me, so it is cool when I hear one of their tunes on the radio. I recommend a listen through their catalog including “Imaginary Lover”, “I’m Not Gonna Let It Bother Me Tonight” and “Do It or Die” as well as some other hits. Also toss in their remake of “Spooky”, best known from the Classics IV (featuring members who would later found ARS).

8. Our House – Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young (1970)
CSN&Y doing what they did best. Harmonized vocals paired with a bouncy mesh of musical accompaniment, both of which start out basic, move to a peak, and fade to a finish. Sure, there are plenty of more heavy hitting tunes from this bunch, but how many of them were ever catchy enough to sell sausage and appliances?

7. Radioactive – The Firm (1985)
While this tune didn’t make a big splash on the charts (Billboard #28), it got plenty of play on MTV. This supergroup consisted of Paul Rodgers (Free, Bad Company), Jimmie Page (The Yardbirds, Led Zeppelin), Chris Slade (Manfred Mann’s Earth Band), and bassist, Tony Franklin. Although this tune was their lone Top 40 hit, “Satisfaction Guaranteed” is also a winner and was another MTV staple.

6. 18 and Life – Skid Row (1989)
I like story songs and this one about a troubled, rebellious youth fit perfectly with the booze infused, bad boy persona of hair metal. MTV’s Headbanger’s Ball was chock full of such stuff and provided a much-needed break from the bulk of Top 40 radio of the day. Some may poke fun at the garb, glam, and coiffure, but you can’t deny that many of those singers had some pipes. And Skid Row’s Sebastian Bach could get it done.

Well, that’s five down and five to go. Talk to you later. Troy

Catching up on the fishing reports also means keeping up with the Trip Tunes feature as it returns for 2025.

5. Come On Eileen – Dexy’s Midnight Runners (1983)
An MTV classic that was different even among the wide range of different that was Music Television in those early years when the channel stuck to music videos. A different delivery and sound combined with a different look in the video, it was definitely a hit. Number One, in fact. And forty years later, I still have no grip on many of the lyrics. Of course, the intent is loud and clear. Like most songs, it’s a love song.

4. Too Young to Fall in Love – Motley Crue (1984)
I guess that I would have been a high school junior when this tune was gaining popularity with my peers and caught my ear. Admittedly more of a pop or light rock guy, this hair band thing got me hooked and I was a fan of the genre through the rest of the decade. Funny thing, as I approach sixty, I’ve realized that I was a fan long before The Crue and their brethren took the stage. At this time, I would direct you to give a listen to Sweet and their catalog of tunes. You can thank me later.

3. Uncle John’s Band – Grateful Dead (1970)
My brother, Bub, is a true Deadhead and currently provides me with a weekly Grateful Dead tune to check out as he prepares for a trip to Vegas to catch Dead & Company. All the tunes he suggests are first listens to me as my Dead knowledge covers maybe ten songs. This tune remains my favorite Dead song while Bub’s suggestions have also added “Black Muddy River” to my listen list.

2. Feelin’ Stronger Every Day – Chicago (1973)
The band has reinvented its sound over the course of nearly sixty years but for my money, the old Chicago was the best Chicago. I did like many of the tunes during their 1980s Peter Cetera led resurgence, but it is tough to beat songs like this one. And you’ve gotta love those 1970s rock/pop tunes with horns as a prominent feature.

1. Lady Madonna – The Beatles (1968)
Let me start by saying that there are not enough Beatles songs on the radio (at least on my local presets) and the variety is also lacking. I have tracked the Beatles songs that I hear on the radio over the last two years with Come Together (16 plays) and Back in the USSR (9 plays) leading the way by far. Fine tunes but I would encourage programmers or DJs to do better. For instance, this tune that I’ve heard once this year and twice last year. Two and a half minutes of The Beatles doing what The Beatles did best as I will be singing the tune for the rest of the day.

Next up, is the Monday Top 5 Update as the bass are biting. Talk to you later. Troy