IT'S THAT TIME OF YEAR AGAIN!

Behold, my Spotify Wrapped! Yes, that brilliant marketing gimmick that gives us all an opportunity to do a little navel-gazing, and I'm here for it.

My genre sandwich for 2023 (on multi-grain bread, natch):

Top 5 artists: 

My top song is no surprise to me, since I've been playing it at least once a day since its release:

Speaking of.....

More selections from my Top 20: 

You know how once in a while an artist comes along that makes you think, "Holy shit, I must now listen to everything they've ever recorded?" This year Noah Kahan (see above) was that artist for me. His catalog does not disappoint; he's like the love child of Paul Simon and John Prine, if such a union were possible.

Psst, wanna guess the Velveeta in my Indie/Classic Rock/Country/New Wave/Indie Pop sandwich? Buried way down my Top 100 playlist, number 82 to be exact....

You don't have to guess, I've got it circled. Hey, if digging the occasional hair metal power ballad is wrong, I don't want to be right. 

In honor of Halloween, here is an acoustic cover of "Don't Fear the Reaper" by Joshua Path, a truly amazing singer/songwriter I had the pleasure of interviewing in 2010.

Rescued From Obscurity: Wendy & Lisa - "Waterfall"

"Watch out when you're headed for the waterfall..."

Man, I LOVED this song. I remember the video getting some airplay on MTV in the fall of '87, and I thought it was brilliant back then too. I even have recollections of my stepbrother's reaction to the clip: "Damn, that chick on guitar (Wendy) is SERIOUSLY hot." (I suspect this had a lot to do with the white bra top Wendy sports in the vid, but oh well). Personally, I liked Lisa. She looks awesome in this video, and I dug her funky, swirly-colored, water-filled piano.

"Waterfall" was the first single off the duo's debut album, and it didn't exactly set the world on fire. According to wikipedia (an unfailingly accurate source, as everyone knows) "Waterfall" only reached #66 on the UK charts in 1987. There was no mention of its chart position in the US; I tried to look it up on a message board devoted to Prince but the damn thing kept crashing my browser, so I gave up. 

I did find Wendy and Lisa's website, and it seems that the duo is still going strong. Over the years, they've done session work with Liz Phair, Michael Penn, Pearl Jam, Grace Jones, Joni Mitchell, OK Go, Gwen Stefani, and Seal, to name just a few. At any rate, I'm glad they're still around and still making music. They're fantastic songwriters and talented musicians.  
 

Because I adore this guy, I'm posting this. The Foo Fighters was one of the few bands from the nineties that I could get into, and Joshua does an amazing rendition of their song, "Everlong."

The (Other) Songs of Summer, Part II coming soon.

I want to take advantage of increased site traffic to plug the subject of my next interview. Joshua Path is an L.A.-based singer/songwriter whose song "Spider of Love" is currently being featured in the Season 6 trailer for the TV show House.

Path is a brilliant songwriter and musician, and I've become a big fan. His latest CD Headlight in the Sun is available on iTunes, or you can order it on his website. My favorite songs are "Angels Don't Come Around Here No More," "Spider of Love," and the title track "Headlight" in particular really gets me.

Check him out. You'll be glad you did.