The Three Degrees – Year of Decision
Oldies Songs An Anthem of Urgent Self-Reflection: The Timeless Call for Personal Reckoning Set to the Glorious, Sweeping Sound of Philadelphia Soul. The mid-1970s was a majestic, shimmering age when the heart…
James Taylor – Mexico
A Sunny-Day Dream of Escape: James Taylor’s Unexpected Ode to Anonymity and Tropical Freedom from the Weight of Fame. For those of us who came of age in the 1970s,…
Ted Nugent – Hard As Nails
A Riff-Driven, Unapologetic Proclamation of Primal American Hard Rock Identity in the Face of Changing Musical Tides. The year 1980 was a critical and complicated junction in the history of…
Steely Dan – Things I Miss The Most
The Elegantly Cynical Divorce: A Wealthy Man’s Bittersweet Inventory of Material Loss, Proving That Even Heartbreak is Subject to a Sophisticated Cost-Benefit Analysis. For the devoted connoisseur of American music,…
The Glitter Band – I’ve Gotta Get a Message Back to You
The Sound of Silence After the Glitter Fade: A Dramatic, Late-Era Glam Rock Plea for Connection as the 1970s Disco Ball Spins Away. There are songs that capture the moment,…
Mud – One Nights
A Final, Melancholy Dance: How the Glam-Rock Heart of the Seventies Reached Back to the Fifties for a Poignant Farewell to a Golden Era. For those of us who came…
Donald Fagen – Out of the Ghetto
The Poignant Re-Contextualization of Soul: A Jewish-American Musician’s Ironic and Affectionate Appropriation of a Black Ghetto Narrative. To approach a Donald Fagen composition is to wade into a world steeped…
Ted Nugent – Love Grenade
The Explosive Force of Old-School Rock and Roll: A Raw, Unapologetic Celebration of Primal Desire Delivered with the Relentless Energy of a Lifelong Motor City Madman. For those of us…
Walter Becker – Somebody’s Saturday Night
The Worn Glamour of the Weekend Warrior: A Jazzy, Reggae-Infused Portrait of Ephemeral Desire and Existential Self-Awareness in the Dim Light. The late Walter Becker (of Steely Dan fame) was…
Ted Nugent – I Want to Tell You
The Uncomfortable Marriage of Garage Rock Fury and Pop Melancholy: A Hard Rock Maestro’s Unexpected and Frayed Take on Communication Breakdown. For anyone who came of age with the feral…