The music was right along with it, as you'd expect. I have many memories of songs popular in the fall: Jackson 5's "I'll Be There" in 1970, Rod Stewart's "Maggie May" the next year. Some great songs in 1974 when I first started college "You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet", "Jazzman", anyone?
Well anyway, fast forward to last fall. It was October, my favorite month, but by the 20th, we heard rumors that a hurricane would come our way, as Sandy was heading up the coast. A moment of relief when reports had it going out to sea. Which makes sense, if you're a weather person, as storms of this ilk, usually veer out that way, and by late October, the waters are too cool to hold any major storms. But, around the 25th, they changed the forecast once again, and that the storm was heading right towards New Jersey. Hope that the storm would change course, turned futile; Sandy would combine with another storm to cause widespread damage along the Jersey Shore, New York City and parts of Long Island. The world was disrupted. So much for October and fall, right? Some residences, a year later are still not yet back.
And the music will always been lodged in my mind. I'm not talking about the relief concerts that took place in support of those affected, but the songs that were on my chart and played on my iPod. Perhaps a year later..heck, maybe even a couple months later, they reminded me of the hardships endured. And frankly, in spite of ten days without power and a downed tree hitting our house that caused no internal damage, it wasn't nearly as bad as those who lost everything, and there were many.
Last year, songs like "Yet Again" by Grizzly Bear, "Default" by Django Django, "If You Loved Me" by Child Actor, "Elizabeth's Theme" by Dirty Beaches, and "The Curve" by Golden Void. Here these songs now, I still flashback to that time. Then there's "Gangnam Style", which was in my top 10 the first week I returned to do the blog. It was the craze of the preceding month, but Sandy kind of put an end to that (mercifully, some may say!)
Is it a bad thing? Considering what happened to us, maybe not; after all it's in the past, and if you're doing OK right now, then I guess you can go back and have a smile in that things turned out OK, so it's cool to enjoy these songs. But for some, they can bring back such unpleasant memories, that hearing them can only make matters worse.
But either way, it's just another example of the power of music.
ONE MORE DUAL: For the fourth week in a row, this blog is encompassing two weeks as I still struggle in my year-long quest to catch up. But this should do it as it would bring me up to date and I intend on spending weekend nights typing this up the way I used to do. Still, I have to acknowledge that it takes a whole lot of time to do, and I even wonder myself if I should keep it up. I know I'll continue through the end of the year and rethink it then.
THE AGE OF AQUARIANS: While checking Facebook today, I noticed that a couple weeks ago, the legendary are rock newspaper Aquarian Weekly ran a review of Rachel Allyn's Do It Yourself, her first full-length album she released earlier this year. You can read this very favorable review of it right here. It's always gratifying to see her progress in her career. She recently opened for Bo Bice of American Idol fame a couple weeks ago at B.B. Kings in New York City. She has 8 consecutive top 10's on SAS, and her four #1's are the most by a solo artists in the three years I've done this. Keep up the good work, Rachel!
RADIO-STILL-ACTIVE: Congratulations go out to Imagine Dragons, as their "Radioactive" logs weeks number 46 and 47 on my list, breaking the record set by "Pumped Up Kicks" by Foster the People in 2011. It's kind of a dubious record; however, as it never got into my 40 during two chart runs. I tried to really get into it, and the song was a bonafide it in many radio formats, including pop, where it hit #2. But it was rather troublesome for me. It appears the next hit from them is "Demons", a song which entered my charts on April 20, but spent only nine weeks on and peaked at #66. So, here we go again!
It looks like the next single from Fitz and the Tantrum's More Than Just A Dream set will be "The Walker". My friend Tom Corea posted the song earlier this week and it has replaced "Out of My League" on the playlist of WEQX in Manchester, Vermont. Expect the song to make my chart either next week or the week after. Meanwhile, my choice album cut, "Keeping Our Eyes Out" logs its third and fourth week at the top, while the first single continues somewhat of a resurgence. It has fallen from the top spot on the Alternative chart, but still is rising on Adult Top 40. I'd like to see some pop stations get on this song before it's complete over.
TWERK IT OUT: After several weeks on the Tremors chart (my version of "Bubbling Under", Miley Cyrus' "We Can't Stop" finally cracks the SNS 100. It's an OK song, but the main reason for including straight pop songs on my list is of a historical perspective. My chart is recognizable if there are familiar songs from a particular time period in there. So, in the light of all of Cyrus' controversy at the recent VMA's, this one gets a push. "Wrecking Ball", her latest will no doubt soon be added, but again, it's not a substitute for some deserving bands out there.
I hope to get back to reviewing some good music in future blogs, and hopefully I can keep this up on a weekly basis again. Also since Halloween is next week, please be safe out there! Enjoy the day and happy haunting!
Scenes 'n' Soundwaves 100
October 19 & 26, 2013
|
This Week
|
Last Week
|
ARTIST-Title
|
Weeks on List
|
|
1
|
1
|
NUMBER ONE:
FITZ AND THE TANTRUMS
"Keeping Our Eyes Out"
Album: More Than Just a Dream
(3rd and 4th weeks at #1)
|
9
|
|
2
|
2
|
Cage the Elephant - Come A Little Closer
|
11
|
|
3
|
4
|
Man Man - Head On
|
12
|
|
4
|
3
|
Terraplane Sun - Get Me Golden
|
13
|
|
5
|
5
|
Wild Belle - Keep You
|
33
|
|
6
|
6
|
Robin Thicke f. T.I. & Pharrel Williams - Blurred Lines
|
14
|
|
7
|
13
|
Field Mouse - How Do You Know
|
12
|
|
8
|
20
|
Lorde - Royals
|
10
|
|
9
|
9
|
Portugal. The Man - Purple Yellow Red & Blue
|
17
|
|
10
|
18
|
Golden Void - Rise to the Out of Reach
|
11
|
|
11
|
12
|
Blake Shelton - Boys 'Round Here
|
16
|
|
12
|
15
|
Case Studies - Everything
|
19
|
|
13
|
7
|
Train - Bruises
|
17
|
|
14
|
10
|
Lana Del Rey - Summertime Sadness
|
15
|
|
15
|
21
|
TOP 20 IMPACT OF THE WEEK:
MATTHEW KOMA
"One Night"
Album: Arcadia
|
11
|
|
16
|
8
|
Rachel Allyn - Dear Prudence
|
13
|
|
17
|
11
|
Phoenix - Trying to Be Cool
|
20
|
|
18
|
16
|
Bruno Mars - Treasure
|
15
|
|
19
|
23
|
Katy Perry - Roar
|
11
|
|
20
|
17
|
Silversun Pickups - Dots and Dashes
|
16
|
|
21
|
22
|
Kings of Leon - Supersoaker
|
13
|
|
22
|
24
|
Foals - My Number
|
16
|
|
23
|
26
|
Tame Impala - Elephant
|
18
|
|
24
|
14
|
Pink f. Lily Allen - True Love
|
14
|
|
25
|
28
|
Franz Ferdinand - Right Action
|
14
|
|
26
|
29
|
Leila Hegazy - The Reason Why
|
12
|
|
27
|
19
|
Dan Croll - From Nowhere
|
28
|
|
28
|
34
|
Fitz and the Tantrums - Out of My League
|
36
|
|
29
|
38
|
The Veils - Another Night on Earth
|
9
|
|
30
|
25
|
Cayucas - High School Lover
|
21
|
|
31
|
46
|
Smith Westerns - Varsity
|
5
|
|
32
|
27
|
Paramore - Still Into You
|
17
|
|
33
|
35
|
Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros - Better Days
|
12
|
|
34
|
30
|
Atlas Genius - If So
|
19
|
|
35
|
39
|
Florence + the Machine - Spectrum (Say My Name)
|
10
|
|
36
|
31
|
Palma Violets - Best of Friends
|
18
|
|
37
|
48
|
The Avett Brothers - Another Is Waiting
|
7
|
|
38
|
45
|
Lady Gaga - Applause
|
9
|
|
39
|
33
|
Foxygen - No Destruction
|
15
|
|
40
|
50
|
Zedd f. Foxes Clarify
|
7
|
|
41
|
54
|
The Satelliters - Where Do We Go
|
7
|
|
42
|
49
|
Arcade Fire - Reflektor
|
7
|
|
43
|
53
|
Passenger - Let Her Go
|
14
|
|
44
|
65
|
Those Darlins - Optimist
|
3
|
|
45
|
62
|
Avicii - Wake Me Up
|
7
|
|
46
|
77
|
MOVER OF THE WEEK:
CAPITAL CITIES
"Safe and Sound"
Album: In a Tidal Wave of Mystery
|
12
|
|
47
|
32
|
Paul Czekaj - At the Beach
|
19
|
|
48
|
36
|
Yeah Yeah Yeahs- Under the Earth
|
19
|
|
49
|
69
|
Panic! at the Disco - Miss Jackson
|
3
|
|
50
|
43
|
Imagine Dragons - Radioactive
|
46
|
|
51
|
57
|
OneRepublic - Counting Stars
|
12
|
|
52
|
59
|
The Livesays - Until You Kissed Me Like That
|
7
|
|
53
|
37
|
I Am Dynamite - Hey Girl
|
19
|
|
54
|
44
|
New Politics - Harlem
|
34
|
|
55
|
40
|
Pixies - Bagboy
|
14
|
|
56
|
42
|
Foxygen - San Francisco
|
27
|
|
57
|
61
|
Dawes - Most People
|
7
|
|
58
|
63
|
Porchistas - Johnny Miner
|
9
|
|
59
|
68
|
Emeli Sande - My Kind of Love
|
5
|
|
60
|
71
|
Phillip Phillips - Where We Came From
|
5
|
|
61
|
60
|
Mikal Cronin- Change
|
10
|
|
62
|
51
|
Waaves - Demon to Lean On
|
22
|
|
63
|
73
|
Taylor Centers - Alibi
|
5
|
|
64
|
41
|
Jay Arner - Don't Remind Me
|
26
|
|
65
|
70
|
Wig Party - She Figured It Out
|
7
|
|
66
|
47
|
The Thermals - I Go Alone
|
20
|
|
67
|
64
|
The Unlikely Candidates - Follow My Feet
|
13
|
|
68
|
52
|
Omnia Hegazy - Aziza
|
23
|
|
69
|
92
|
San Cisco - Fred Astaire
|
3
|
|
70
|
58
|
Lana Del Rey - Young and Beautiful
|
21
|
|
71
|
72
|
The 1975 - Chocolate
|
10
|
|
72
|
----
|
TOP DEBUT:
EMILIANA TORRINI
"Speed of Dark"
Album: Tookah
|
1
|
|
73
|
55
|
Portugal. the Man - Evil Friends
|
23
|
|
74
|
56
|
Neko Case - Man
|
19
|
|
75
|
67
|
Sara Bareilles - Brave
|
20
|
|
76
|
74
|
Grouplove - Ways to Go
|
17
|
|
77
|
84
|
Bonnie McKee - American Girl
|
5
|
|
78
|
78
|
Hands - The Game is Changing Us
|
7
|
|
79
|
83
|
Brent Dennen - Wild Child
|
5
|
|
80
|
66
|
Kurt Vile - Waking on A Pretty Day
|
22
|
|
81
|
87
|
The Killers - Shot At the Night
|
3
|
|
82
|
93
|
Coldplay - Atlas
|
3
|
|
83
|
96
|
Cold War Kids - Lost That Easy
|
3
|
|
84
|
76
|
The Mowglis - Great Divide
|
10
|
|
85
|
90
|
J Roddy Wilson and the Business - Heavy Bells
|
5
|
|
86
|
86
|
Blue October - Bleed Out
|
5
|
|
87
|
89
|
Calvin Harris f. Ellie Goulding - I Need Your Love
|
15
|
|
88
|
91
|
Taylor Swift f. Ed Sheeran - Everything Has Changed
|
5
|
|
89
|
100
|
Bell X1 - The End Is Nigh
|
3
|
|
90
|
85
|
Nonono - Pumpin Blood
|
10
|
|
91
|
81
|
Ellie Goulding - Burn
|
12
|
|
92
|
95
|
Jack Johnson - I Got You
|
3
|
|
93
|
----
|
Bastille - Pompeii
|
1
|
|
94
|
----
|
King Tuff - Sun Medallion
|
1
|
|
95
|
----
|
Miley Cyrus - We Can't Stop
|
1
|
|
96
|
75
|
The Neighborhood - Afraid
|
18
|
|
97
|
----
|
Eagulls - Pompeii
|
1
|
|
98
|
----
|
Saints of Valory - Neon Eyes
|
2
|
|
99
|
----
|
Fall Out Boy - The Phoenix
|
2
|
|
100
|
----
|
Pearl Jam - Sirens
|
1
|
TREMORS:
101. Linkin Park, A Light That Never Comes
102. The Head and the Heart, Shake
103. American Authors - Best Day of My Life
104. The Joy Formidable, Silent Treatment
105. Goo Goo Dolls, Come To Me
106. White Denim, Pretty Green
107. John Mayer, Wildfire
108. The Limousines, Love and A Dog From Hell
109. Alt J, Tesselate
