That Wonderful Year in Music... 1973 (Redux)

Longtime readers will recall that for a span of 4 1/2 years, mostly by milestone I reviewed every year in music from 1963 to the then-present. There are some lists I'm perfectly fine with, while others had glaring oversights and omissions. (Look at my #5 pick below. I’m ashamed.) A lot of my earlier lists would have benefited from Spotify it were around at the time, and that is definitely the case for my 1973 rundown.

As I implied nearly a decade ago, '73 was stacked. Growing up on classic rock, I know almost all of these albums like the back of my hand. Most of my lists are a top 20, and I simply couldn't whittle it down from 25. Ditto for the list of singles. At the same time, since I first wrote this list in 2009, I’ve witnessed some shifts in my musical tastes, and discovered some new bands and albums in the interim.

(Parentheses note original rankings)

BEST ALBUMS:

1. Dark Side of the Moon, Pink Floyd. (3) As much as I love Brick Road (it's one of my top three favorite double albums) my original list did a disservice to far-reaching cultural impact and commercial success of the Floyd's breakthrough. Call it overrated or a relic of its time, this was one of those albums that launched a thousand imitators and acolytes.

2. Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, Elton John (1)

3. Innervisions, Stevie Wonder (12)

4. Raw Power, The Stooges (7)

5. Aladdin Sane, David Bowie (NR)

6. Countdown to Ecstacy, Steely Dan (2)

7. Houses of the Holy, Led Zeppelin (13)

8. Berlin, Lou Reed (11)

9. The Wild, The Innocent & The E Street Shuffle, Bruce Springsteen (5)

10. Quadrophenia, The Who (6)

11. For Your Pleasure, Roxy Music (8)

12. Band on the Run, Paul McCartney & Wings (20)

13. Headhunters, Herbie Hancock (15)

14. (Pronounced 'Leh-'nérd 'Skin-'nérd), Lynyrd Skynyrd (NR)

15. Sabbath Bloody Sabbath, Black Sabbath (NR)

16. Selling England By the Pound, Genesis (NR)

17. New York Dolls, New York Dolls (4)

18. Closing Time, Tom Waits (NR)

19. Catch a Fire, The Wailers (NR)

20. Greetings from Asbury Park, NJ, Bruce Springsteen (14)

21. Future Days, Can (NR)

22. Larks' Tongues in Aspic, King Crimson (NR)

23. Paris 1919, John Cale (10)

24. Brain Salad Surgery, Emerson Lake & Palmer (18)

25. The Smoker You Drink, The Player You Get, Joe Walsh (19)

BEST SINGLES:

"La Grange," ZZ Top

"Kodachrome," Paul Simon

"You're So Vain," Carly Simon 

"Frankenstein," The Edgar Winter Group

"Heartbreaker (Do Do Do Do Do)," The Rolling Stones

"Captain Jack," Billy Joel 

"Ecstasy," The Raspberries

"Right Place, Wrong Time," Dr. John

"Dancing in the Moonlight," King Harvest

"She's Gone," Hall & Oates

"Killing Me Softly (With His Song)," Roberta Flack

"Love Train," The O-Jays

"Let's Get It On," Marvin Gaye

"Midnight Train to Georgia," Gladys Knight & The Pips

"Here I Am (Come and Take Me)," Al Green

"Stir It Up," Johnny Nash

"Drift Away," Dobie Gray

"One of a Kind Love Affair," Spinners

"Keep on Truckin'," Eddie Kendricks

"Masterpiece," The Temptations

"The World is a Ghetto," War

"Tubular Bells," Mike Oldfield

"Hocus Pocus," Focus

"Street Life," Roxy Music

"Just One Victory," Todd Rundgren

Dedicated to the memory of Mark A. Peterson

(580)

The Administration That Couldn't Shoot Straight

The privilege of being President of the United States comes with the burden of near-constant, unrelenting scrutiny. Even though full transparency cannot be truly attained (at least one former POTUS had promised) the exhaustive analysis of everything POTUS has been augmented by the advent of social media 10-15 years ago. Even though President Trump adores Twitter, the frankness of his tweets and the microscope he put himself under (intentional or not) are working against him.

In light of two news stories in the past week, the Parkland school shooting and the indictment of 13 Russian hackers, President Trump’s ability to demonstrate authority was yet again undercut by his aloofness, ego, and thirst for gratification. Robert Mueller’s indictment of hackers may have been dismissed with an all caps “NO COLLUSION” tweet, but it’s hard to believe the infringement of the 2016 election was one-sided. It is very much possible that the President will survive this, and like so many in his inner circle, someone else will get thrown under the bus, guilty of conspiracy or not.

As for Florida... no, no, no. And this doesn't help.

There is little doubt in my mind that if our president was more self-aware, he would concede to the criticism and resign. Then again, if Trump were self-aware he would have put the kibosh on Russian communication the moment it was first suggested or implied. Better yet, there are many avenues of logic where none of this should have ever happened. The bafflement continues.

(579)

Random Notes, February 2018

If I can't focus on one thing, I'll just bounce around:

+ At long last, the Tea Party is dead. The last nail in the coffin was Sen. Rand Paul's unnecessary and obtrusive filibuster against the federal spending bill last night. Fiscal restraint aside, their primary objective was to troll President Obama, who left office 13 months ago. The leaders of both major political parties have no problem with spending federal dollars, as long as its justified.

+ The Trump White House is spotty about security clearance? Two-plus months after fawning over Judge Roy Moore, President Trump offered praise to an accused wife-beater? Its amazing that anyone would be phased by this anymore.

+ Remember what I said about Jeanne Ives being a borderline viable option against Bruce Rauner? Never mind.

+ I haven't had a chance to watch the first few days of the Pyeongchang Olympics yet. I hope to remedy that during the week. Otherwise, please forgive this concise dispatch.

(578)

A Casual Guide to the 2018 Illinois Governor's Primary

I've been so caught up in the Washington garbage fire that I've barely had a chance to discuss the Illinois gubernatorial primary. (We're still seven weeks away, but still.) Incumbent Gov. Bruce Rauner is no sure shot for reelection --the epic budget windfall will be his legacy, win or lose-- but the field is as uninspiring as its ever been. After alienating religious conservatives with his pragmatic stance on abortion, Rauner holds a narrow lead on his onetime ally, State Rep. Jeanne Ives. A self-made multi-millionaire, Rauner used his own money in 2014 and is doing so again; Ives, however has more endorsements and the state GOP's war chest. A recent debate where Rauner looked under-prepared and outmatched has further complicated things.


People have likely wised up to the idea of any candidate running the country like a business. *cough*  The Democratic gubernatorial race looks like it will be bought, not unlike Rauner four years ago. Philanthropist J.B. Pritzker has been running ads on TV since the summer, has spent more money than all his other opponents combined, and barring a scandal or fiasco will run away with the nomination come March 20th. Connections to Blago aside, the race has been a cakewalk; for lack of a better term, Chris Kennedy (son of RFK) and State Sen. Daniel Biss are splitting the anti-Pritzker vote, and Tio Hardiman (who also ran in 2014) has been a non-entity.

In short, this race is running against trends in other parts of the country. There are a greater number of female candidates for public office overall, but with the exception of Ives the women in this race are relegated to running mate status. I find none of the candidates all that inspiring, but in my home state everything could go bust in a second.

(577)

Random Notes, January 2018

So much to say:

+ There is reason to believe President Trump had sexual relations with a porn actress in 2006, a year or so after he married his current wife. If this were any other president, this would be beginning of the end. Michael Wolff believes Trump is still philandering as we speak.  Alas, one year in and the Trump Administration continues to defy logic and common sense. The machine keeps chugging...

+ ...or maybe it doesn't, since we just witnessed the fourth government shutdown in the last 25 years. Trump's inherent stubbornness (and his well-established race problem) triggered the shutdown, but the weak leadership of the Democratic Party brought it to a prompt end. With more voters identifying as independents, this was a misfire by a party that can't risk making any mistakes. Giving the GOP carte blanche on DACA is not something people will forget come November.

+ I'm training to become an improv coach! After doing improv for 8 1/2 years and having performed at One Group Mind in Wicker Park for four of them, it just seemed like the next logical step. This doesn't mean I'll be coaching a team immediately after this class ends (which will be in early March) but I'm benefiting somewhat from the insight.

(576)

Wolff in Sheep's Clothing

So... read any good books lately?

For the converted, Michael Wolff's tell-all Fire and Fury not only confirms their worst assumptions of the inner workings of the Trump White House, it exacerbates them. For the skeptics, Wolff is the next Kitty Kelley, a gossip-monger who wants to knock powerful people down a peg. The former seems more realistic than the latter; a gaffe involving a Beltway insider's name has been blown out of proportion. The inaccuracies are minor and arbitrary compared to the big picture: the president and his inner circle really don't know what they're doing.

Because the Trump administration continues to defy logic, the real loser of the story is Steve Bannon. A man who had the president's ear less than six months ago has been fired, vilified, and removed from the powerful media position on which he built his name. I almost want to take on him... I mean, if he wasn't the editor of a political news site that enabled anti-Semites.

If the first week of 2018 was dominated by a seemingly lurid tell-all, then the second week has been defined by an unexpected streak of profanity. President Trump is not going to apologize for his "shithole countries" remark; if anything, he'll inevitably say something worse to pander to his race-baiting base. Any notion that Trump wants to the unify the country went out the window with his tepid response to Charlottesville; this secures his lack of understanding.

(575)