Overfed longhaired leaping gnome

Who's ready for another list?
No one? Really, no one?
Tough titties. I am.

So, in usual fashion, this list is without a doubt the definitive list on this subject. While other lists may exist on this subject, they are all wrong and this one is right. Without a doubt. Indubitably.

Ready?

Top hits for each year in the 1970's.



Why the 70's you may ask (or may not)...70's are my go to era for music....60's music was great, but I got that through osmosis (I was too young to appreciate it when it was current), 80's music mostly sucked (although I won't rule out a future list on either of these eras), 90's don't count, and post 2000 is still too new to me.

I'll try to keep this brief, (some as little as one sentence...but one incredible, well chosen, thought provoking sentence)I know you've all got more important stuff to do than invest in the five minutes it takes to read this drivel. I'll include a few video clips where I see fit...possibly on all of them

Here we go....

1970
Spill the Wine - War
That's were the title of this blog is pulled from. Oh, and that was my nickname in high school. A trippier song you will never find. At least watch this one until he gets to the gnome line..then I dare you not to finish it.

1971

Jealous Guy - John Lennon.

Yes, Jealous Guy...not Imagine. Imagine is great and all, but it's been done to death. It was my class song for crissakes. I'll put "I was dreaming of the past, and my heart was beating fast" up against "Imagine there's no heaven, it's easy if you try" any day. Plus, you can never dismiss a song with whistling in it. Whistling kicks ass. Just like this song.

1972

Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard - Paul Simon.

Another whistling song. What can I say? ...and I like the image of the Mama Pajama rolling out of bed.

Oh, and the little black girl in this video. No rhythm. God love her, but none. Zero. Zilch. Nada. Zippo.

1973

Rosalita - Bruce Springsteen.

Bruuuuuce !

Worth the 9:44 to listen to this ...even if you don't watch it. Trust me on this one. Leave it on, turn it up and go wash the dishes or something.

1974

Free Man in Paris - Joni Mitchell

Have you ever felt unfettered and alive. Have you ever even used the word unfettered. Really? You're lying if you said you had.  Use it tomorrow. I dare you.



1975

Road Runner - Modern Lovers

Screw disco...

"I say road runner once, road runner twice.

I'm in love with rock n roll and I'll be out all night"

and I love the repetitious "radio on!  radio on!

Don't you?

1976

The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald - Gordon Lightfoot

This song was epic to me. Especially when listening to it on a Miami Dolphins replica helmet AM radio

 Can't skip this one...

I saw Gordo closer than this with a dear friend back in the early 80's. Love to reminisce

1977 (Almost done.....)

Psycho Killer - Talking Heads

I also "hate people when they're not polite"...

The quirkiest grooviest white band. Ever.

1978

Surrender - Cheap Trick

Yup.

Don't deny it.

"Mommy's alright, Daddy's alright. They just seem a little weird"



1979

Train in Vain - The Clash

Brilliant simplicity.

Now that is tough. Try it sometime.

There you go.

Top songs from each year in the 70's.

Don't deny it, you know it's true.

Hope you took a minute or two to appreciate a few of these...maybe something here will ignite a desire to seek out more from one of these bands. Maybe not. Who knows?

...and see how it was done without one mention of the Bee Gees or Abba (that is, until now).

So it goes.

Sometimes I....No, I don't.

There's a reason I'm posting this video...



...but , for the life of me, I forget what the reason was.

But, that reminds me of something else I can bore you with. My memory. Actually, my lack of memory.
I have a horrible memory. The worst. My memory is so bad it's fairly legendary for people that know me (or pretend to know me...if I don't know them, can they know me?)...and maddening for the people that depend on me to remember things...or even worse, expect me to remind them of things that can't be forgot. Birthdays...appointments...assignments....details in general...I'm not your guy. Sorry.

What reminded me today of my bad memory was running into someone in a store this afternoon. I was waiting to meet a few other people (that I did know, I swear) and a woman with her son walks past me, stops, turns around, and says, "Peter?"

So, naturally, I say, "Hey!, how are you?"...all the while having no idea who this person is..but this was going to buy me some time. Obviously it had been some time since I had seen this person, by the way she said my name (you noticed the question mark, right?)...so I had that going for me. I thought (for a brief second)....I might actually come up with this one.

Her..."I'm good. How have you been?"


Me.."Good, good" "It's been a long time, hasn't it?" (I felt safe with this one...even I can remember people by sight at least, in my recent past...not their names, mind you, but at least a familiar face...and this one was not registering).
....five minutes later, after much joking, and catching up, good conversation and smiles all around, she went on her way, and I, mine.

I still don't know who she was. Never will.

...what was I talking about again?

Oh yeah, my memory.

It's funny. Many things I write about are from the past. Maybe it's "Pete's version" of the past? Perhaps they didn't really happen that way....although I swear they're true...the robbery, my homerun at little league tryouts, the bat in my room (I did write about all of these things, didn't I?)...All true. If it's not true, I'll admit it...like being in the Macy's day parade.

Maybe my memory's not truly bad...


...maybe it's just selective.

I don't remember what I had for dinner last Tuesday, but I do remember my pinewood derby car that didn't go down the track because I used nails in the wheels instead of an axle (don't you forget...I'm not very mechanical)


I don't remember my oldest brother's birthday, but I do remember the two of us going into the woods of Sunset Park to chop down the first real Christmas tree I ever had as a kid, strapping it to the back of his Triumph Spitfire and bringing it back to my parents house...picture this with a tree on it going down New York Avenue with two proud lumberjacks in the car


I don't remember what the last song I heard on the radio in my car was, but I do remember buying Joe's Garage Act 1 (Frank Zappa)..More Songs About Buildings and Food (Talking Heads)...and Get the Knack (yep , the Knack...you know My Sharona, don't you? Sure you do) the same Saturday morning at Recordland on Congress Street, downtown Portland, with Ron Tibbetts and that awesome Jeep convertible of his.



Good times.

I remember words to songs...but not lines to movies
I remember to take out the trash...but often forget my cell phone
I remember the ad meeting where I inadvertently said the "c" word (you try saying cut chunk fruit fast), but I forgot the meeting I was supposed to go to at 11:00 AM today

Oh, and now I remember why I wanted to post that music video, but that will have to wait for another time.

...as long as someone reminds me.

Summer's Almost Gone

Why not?...
Not looking to be morbid, but for anyone that wants to keep a tally , here are a few songs that I'd encourage to be played at my funeral (assuming that you, dear reader, outlasts me on the big rock we call home). I think it's this dreary day (and the last day of Summer at that) that inspired this. Well, that ,and looking for a way to get some music on these sorry blogs of mine. Here's the first five...next batch to be continued at a later date. Somebody write these down....

Have to have Harry Nilsson...he's pulled me out of some miserable depths in the past with his lugubriousness

...This Warren Zevon song hits me pretty hard..knowing it was one of the last things he had ever done, and him knowing he was on his deathbed when he recorded it.

One of my favorite Talking Heads songs....probably a better option than Psycho Killer...

Love these lyrics...Can't you picture this?...Doesn't this put you there? Great writing....
You're in the back seat laying down 
The windows wrap around
To sound of the travel and the engine 
All you hear is time stand still in travel
And feel such peace and absolute
The stillness still that doesn't end
But slowly drifts into sleep
The stars are the greatest thing you've ever seen
And they're there for you
For you alone you are the everything

And I said five, right?
Has to be a Beatles song...although I do kind of like this cover.

So five for now....five more at a later date.
Did someone get these?