My Music Journal 2025: September 6, 2025

 

Saturday, September 6, 2025

Time: 8:15 P.M.
Song: Stick Season
Artist: Noah Kahan
Mode of Consumption: Watching Austin City Limits

Link to song: https://open.spotify.com/track/0mflMxspEfB0VbI1kyLiAv?si=7fc080cdf942482b

Austin City Limits is shown on the PBS station out of the Quad Cities on Saturday Nights. It used to air at 9 PM, so quite often we’d catch the last few minutes after watching a movie, unless we knew that someone we wanted to see was going to be on. Then we’d either record the show or watch it instead of a movie. 

There have been a lot of good episodes featuring John Prine or Jason Isbell or the Avett Brothers just to name a few. 

A couple years ago, it was bumped up to an 8 PM start, so we don’t catch it quite as often. Although, tonight by the time we were ready to sit down and watch TV, it was already after 8 PM. 

Tonight’s feature artist was Noah Kahan, who I knew a song or two by. I also knew Jodi liked a couple of his songs. 

After a few minutes of watching, there seemed to something different about this episode. It was the makeup of the audience. 

Apparently, Noah Kahan is popular with the ladies. Every shot into the audience showed rows of females, all singing along. 

In fact, you could hear the female voices over the singing of Kahan. 

This was news to us. Until last night, I didn’t have a clue what Kahan looked like, and I had never considered his appeal to females. 

It was a unique watch. Austin City Limits usually has a fairly even mix of young and old in the audience, the crowds are generally excited for the featured artist, but this was one of the first times that the crowd was quite this active in the performance. 

My Music Journal 2025: September 5, 2025

 

Friday, September 5, 2025

Time: 8:35 P.M.
Song: Everybody’s Free (To Wear Sunscreen)
Artist: Baz Luhrmann
Mode of Consumption: Ripping songs off of CDS to add to MP3 collection.

Link to song: https://open.spotify.com/track/6bROd4U6i4AgQGhYJonPgq?si=995de2e0e9c94bac

We talked about going to a football game tonight, but both decided to stay home. Twenty-five years ago, it wouldn’t have been a discussion. I would have been playing in a football game. 

Fifteen years ago, it wouldn’t have been an option. It was my job. Go cover a football game.

Now, it’s 2025, and I don’t have to go to football games. Not that it’s a punishment to go. I am just free to go or not go. 

So, It’s a Friday night and I’m 43. No big plans. No plans really at all. Since we had talked about going to the game, I hadn’t considered what I would do instead. 

We ate and both went about our own activities. While I didn’t just want to veg out in front of a TV screen, I didn’t have the enthusiasm to do anything too strenuous. 

I went down to the basement and picked out a few CDs from the recently bought pile and brought them up to rip songs to add to the MP3s I listen to almost daily, especially during trips to work and back. 

I picked “So” by Peter Gabriel. It’s surprising how little Peter Gabriel I had in the MP3 collection. I look forward to songs like “Red Rain” and “In Your Eyes” popping up in the rotation. 

Then it was on to The Cranberries “No Need to Argue.” Finally, “Zombie” will blast someday when I really need it. 

The third CD was “Now, that’s what I Call Music, Volume 2.” This one was straight from my days in high school. Back when I was going to football games to play in them. It’s a mix of pop, rock, hip hop and rap. 

And Baz Lurhmann’s track. The one that tells to appreciate your youth while you have it. I probably never thought when I was 18 that I’d be ripping that song from a CD when I was 43.

My Music Journal 2025: September 4, 2025

 

Thursday, September 4, 2025

Time: 6:45 P.M.
Song: Rockin’ Into the Night
Artist: 38 Special
Mode of Consumption: Listening to Country Fried Rock compilation album.

Link to song: https://open.spotify.com/track/1rWqtf1rOYiPEb9puv2bYd?si=67f19656ef3647b5

A few years ago, a man stopped by the Barn Sale and told the story of losing all of his albums in a fire. He was fidgety man, who probably flipped through all the records I had at the sale three times. His wife, who I believe bought quite a few CDS (they must have also been lost in the fire) seemed to hold the purse strings. 

At some point, he asked the question. 

“Do you have any of those K-Tel records?” 

I didn’t have any at that point, but I knew what he was talking about. K-Tel records were compilation albums, often advertised on television. K-Tel, the company, made millions off the records in the 1960s and 1970s along with a line of other products sold on TV infomercials. 

The albums were collections usually arranged by genres like rock, disco and country. They exposed listeners to a wide net of songs and artists that might have been missed otherwise. 

The compilations albums were a staple in the growth of popular music in the last half of the last century. When CDS came around, K-Tel transitioned to those, and they were able to survive a few business missteps in the 1990s. They still exist today, mostly making money by licensing songs from their catalogue for streaming services and commercials and television programs. 

Now all these years later, the records still hold a place in people’s memory. Just ask that guy at my sale a few years ago. 

I wish he had showed up a few days ago, because I now have a fair amount of K-Tel records in my dollar bins. I also played them quite a bit during the sale, as they packed a lot of songs on each album, giving them longer run times. 

My Music Journal 2025: September 3, 2025

 

Wednesday, September 3, 2025

Time: 5:41 P.M.
Song: If You Leave
Artist: Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark
Mode of Consumption: Listening to Pretty in Pink soundtrack on Vinyl.

Link to song: https://open.spotify.com/album/0Q0SN4tLsKMec6pAD4EzGY?si=wMrQ8GGmT6K-MRyFWshkHg

“That Molly Ringworm really did it right,” Jodi says, looking at the cover of the “Pretty in Pink” soundtrack. She knows the name is Ringwald, but is referencing a scene from the sitcom “Community” where a hungover Abed cannot recall her real name. 

“She did a lot of work when she was in her late teens and twenties and now can do pretty much whatever she wants.” 

Ringwald is featured on the cover along with co-stars Jon Cryer and Andrew McCarthy. Everything is black-and-white save for Ringwald’s sweater and the word ‘pink.’ Both are pink. 

Ringwald was one of the ringleaders of the infamous 80s brat pack that made a slew of teen-centric movies. Ringwald also starred in “The Breakfast Club” and “Sixteen Candles.” 

I think I have watched both of those more times than “Pretty in Pink” whose storyline eludes me other than I think it has to do with Ringwald courting McCarthy’s character (who might come from the wealthy side of town) while ignoring the advances of Ducky (Cryer), who she has permanently placed in the friend zone. 

The soundtrack is comprised of 80s bands with era-appropriate names: Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark, INXS, The Psychedelic Furs, New Order, The Smiths, and Echo & the Bunnymen. 

The bands are more New Wave than probably are found in the other teeny bopper movies of the 80s. If I remembered the movie better, I could say that maybe can be attributed to slightly darker and/or adult themes and plots than the other films. 

Alas, I don’t remember it that much. So, perhaps the sounds matched the tone better than classic pop songs. 

My Music Journal 2025: September 2, 2025

 

Tuesday, September 2, 2025

Time: 5:45 A.M.
Song: American Pie
Artist: Don McLean
Mode of Consumption: Listening to American Pie on Vinyl.

Link to song: https://open.spotify.com/track/1fDsrQ23eTAVFElUMaf38X?si=5dc5faa2b9144b54

We were finishing dishes as the vinyl spun on the second side.

“Do you remember the Saturday TV Funhouse just after Madonna released a cover of this song?” Jodi said, drying a dish. “The entire cartoon people asked to touch her crack, and then near the end Don McLean came on, and she thanked him for letting her cover the song and asked him if there was anything she could do for him. He replied, ‘Can I touch your crack.’”

I vaguely remember the bit. The Funhouse cartoon on SNL was popular when we were in high school and early college. The most memorable was probably “The Ambiguously Gay Duo.”

Yet, I could picture the scene that Jodi described. I am pretty sure if I watched it, I would know that I had indeed seen it before.

“Don’t you ever wonder why something like that will stick in your head,” she continued. “Then you can’t remember things that could actually be helpful.”

I nod. I certainly have tons of useless information and TV bits rattling around my brain.

“I also don’t want to touch someone else’s crack.” She finished the conversation.

My Music Journal 2025: September 1, 2025

 

Monday, September 1, 2025

Time: 11:55 A.M.
Song: Everyday is a Winding Road 
Artist: Sheryl Crow
Mode of Consumption: Playing at Dairy Queen

Link to song: https://open.spotify.com/track/0t6DAi9KEiaWOtgTTXGhD2?si=d04364f2e45a48cf

We took a bike ride this morning from Hoover Park to the Rock River. There we crossed the pedestrian bridge over the river and rode along the Hennepin Canal for a few miles. 

On the bridge, we walked the bikes over, pausing in the middle to watch a group of pelicans lingering around an island of driftwood. 

The pelicans stretched their wings and pecked bugs from their feathers. 

“It’s weird we have pelicans now,” Jodi said. “It makes you wonder why we didn’t have before, and why we have them now.” 

I didn’t have the answers, and we moved along, back into Sterling toward the park and our truck. 

After that, we went to Menards and Hobby Lobby. I bought some Christmas decorations for Write On and the tree we are putting together for Festival of Trees in memory of our founder. 

We finished the morning with lunch at Dairy Queen, probably consuming twice as many calories than we lost riding bikes. Oh well, it was a nice way to start a holiday. 

My Music Journal 2025: August 31, 2025

 

Sunday, August 31, 2025

Time: 10:31 PM 
Song: Paradise 
Artist: Tom T. Hall
Mode of Consumption: Listening to a “The Magnificent Music Machine” album on vinyl.

Link to song: https://open.spotify.com/track/1K7D8NAd5eiltc7zrJGzXj?si=289d71799c934890

I was working on the weekly church treasurer books and Jodi was working in the kitchen when this song came on. This album had been part of a couple hundred records I had bought at an auction earlier this summer at the fairgrounds in Morrison and while the colorful cover had caught my attention, I hadn’t paid that close of attention to the track listing. 

We like Tom T. Hall, so it was exciting to hear him covering a John Prine song, another artist we admire. It makes sense as both were at the height of their fame in the 1970s, and they both fall under the umbrella of country/songwriter artists. Plus, they both like to lace their songs with bits of humor and dashes of heartache. 

With that being said, it surprised me a little that Hall chose “Paradise” to cover. It’s a great song, don’t get me wrong, it’s just I would have pegged Hall to choose one a little lighter from Prine’s catalog. 

“Paradise” is about an actual town in Muhlenberg County, Kentucky that was destroyed by strip-mining by the Peabody Energy coal plant. Prine came under fire from the folks at Peabody and I believe he even faced lawsuits. The issues continued even beyond Prine’s death in 2020. 

My sense is that Hall covered it to lend support to Prine, and likely to stick it to big corporations. I still find it interesting how much artists in the 60s and 70s covered contemporary artists songs, quite often within a couple years of the song’s original release. That’s just not something I see happening very much these days.