Popular Songs Of 1976, Vol. 1

If my last few "Popular Songs Of..." posts haven't made you feel old yet, then this three-parter is sure to! Because these are the top songs of forty – count them, forty – years ago! If you remember these songs when they came out, you are old. It's time to face the facts. If you remember hearing them on the oldies or mix stations (like I do), then you are getting old (after all, '80s songs are the "new oldies" these days). Fair warning: There will be disco music, but not in excessive amounts. Everything in moderation. Enjoy?  ~  JH

1)  Wings  ~  “Silly Love Songs”

2)  Johnnie Taylor  ~  “Disco Lady”

3)  Glen Campbell  ~  “Country Boy (You Got Your Feet in L.A.)”

4)  The Four Seasons  ~  “December 1963 (Oh, What A Night)”

5)  Starland Vocal Band  ~  “Afternoon Delight”

6)  Wild Cherry  ~  “Play That Funky Music”

7)  The Manhattans  ~  “Kiss And Say Goodbye”

8)  Charley Pride  ~  “My Eyes Can Only See As Far As You”

9)  Paul Simon  ~  “50 Ways To Leave Your Lover”

10)  Elton John & Kiki Dee  ~  “Don’t Go Breaking My Heart”

11)  The Miracles  ~  “Love Machine”

12)  Walter Murphy  ~  “A Fifth Of Beethoven”

13)  Merle Haggard  ~  “Cherokee Maiden”

14)  Hot Chocolate  ~  “You Sexy Thing”

15)  Seals & Crofts ft. Carolyn Willis  ~  “Get Closer”

16)  Daryl Hall & John Oates  ~  “Sara Smile”

17)  Barry Manilow  ~  “I Write The Songs”

18)  Queen  ~  “Bohemian Rhapsody”

19)  Elvin Bishop  ~  “Fooled Around And Fell In Love”

20)  Dorothy Moore  ~  “Misty Blue”

21)  Marty Robbins  ~  “Among My Souvenirs”  (That is an incredibly ugly shirt.)

22)  Nazareth  ~  “Love Hurts”

23)  Dr Hook  ~  “A Little Bit More”

24)  The Commodores  ~  “Sweet Love”

25)  Tammy Wynette  ~  “Till I Can Make It On My Own”

Same Name, Different Song: Vol. 18

Remember when I used to do these kinda posts all the time, and then you got tired of them and stopped reading them, and I stopped posting them? Yeah, well, I got over that pretty quick. So here's another one. And there's more to come! Enjoy!  ~  JH

1)  "Candy Girl"

The Four Seasons

vs.

New Edition

2)  "Be My Baby"

The Ronettes

vs.

Ariana Grande

vs.

Vanessa Paradis

3)  "Busted"

Johnny Cash

vs.

The Black Keys

4)  "Losing You"

Solange Knowles

vs.

Jan Terri*

5)  "Pride And Joy"

Marvin Gaye

vs.

Stevie Ray Vaughan & Double Trouble

vs.

Coverdale & Page

vs.

Brandi Carlile

6)  "Last Kiss"

Pearl Jam

vs.

Taylor Swift

7)  "Downtown"

Petula Clark

vs.

Lady Antebellum

vs.

Neil Young

8)  "For Your Love"

The Yardbirds

vs.

Stevie Wonder

9)  "Count Me In"

Gary Lewis & The Playboys

vs.

Deana Carter

10)  "Broken"

Seether ft. Amy Lee

vs.

Lecrae ft. Kari Jobe

vs.

Lifehouse

* Jan Terri's "Losing You" is widely regarded as one of the worst songs and worst music videos of all time. I don't include it here because it's good, but because it's so entertainingly awful!

Songs About Hanging

This is not a playlist for a would-be lynch mob. I don't support that kind of behavior. These are not songs for lonely bats dangling upside down in dark, dank caves. They don't need music to make them feel worse about their situation. These are not songs for the brokenhearted. That's Bon Jovi's job. Rather, here's a collection of songs with the word "Hang" (or its derivatives) in their titles. Most of these songs are really good. Some of them are just okay. One of them is really bad, but my wife convinced me that it belonged in this list. (I'll let you figure out which one.) You probably will have heard of a few of them, while others will be as new to you as they were to me. In fact, they're all worth a listen – except that one song. Ready, set, enjoy!  ~  JH

1)  Lifehouse  ~  "Hanging By A Moment"

2)  The Letter Black  ~  "Hanging On By A Thread"

3)  New Kids On The Block  ~  "Hangin' Tough"

4)  Sarah Vaughan  ~  "Spring Can Really Hang You Up The Most"

5)  The McCoys  ~  "Hang On, Sloopy"

6)  The Supremes  ~  "You Keep Me Hangin' On"

7)  Counting Crows  ~  "Hanginaround"

8)  Robyn  ~  "Hang With Me"

9)  The Four Seasons  ~  "Let's Hang On!"

10)  Britt Nicole  ~  "Hanging On"

11)  Yellowcard  ~  "Hang You Up"  (This video is hilarious!)

12)  Ivy Levan  ~  "Hang Forever"

13)  Phil Collins  ~  "Hang In Long Enough"

14)  Jann Arden  ~  "Hanging By A Thread"

15)  Tesla  ~  "Hang Tough"

16)  Sade  ~  "Hang On To Your Love"

17)  Dr. Dog  ~  "Hang On"

18)  Barbra Streisand  ~  "Any Place I Hang My Hat Is Home"

19)  Smash Mouth  ~  "Hang On"

20)  Lykke Li  ~  "Hanging High"

21)   The Guess Who  ~  "Hang On To Your Life"

22)  Cheyenne Kimball  ~  "Hanging On"

23)  Marty Robbins  ~  "Don't Let Me Hang Around"

24)  The Cardigans  ~  "Hanging Around"

25)  The Monkees  ~  "What Am I Doing Hangin' 'Round?"

Same Name, Different Song: Vol. 1

Here's a cool new idea for a music blog post. Before you think I'm bragging, I'm not. The original concept for this post (and all future volumes under the same theme) was suggested by my friend Daniel Entzminger. There are 10 different song titles here, with 2 completely different songs for each of them. And by completely different, I do mean completely different! Take a listen, and comment here or on the site where you saw this post with your favorite artist for each title. There will be more of these to come. Oh yeah, and enjoy!  ~  JH

1)  "Rag Doll"

Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons

vs.

Aerosmith

2)  "Love Song"*

Tesla

vs.

311

3)  "Accidents Will Happen"

Elvis Costello

vs.

Patsy Ann Noble

4)  "Summertime"

Ella Fitzgerald

vs.

The Sundays

5)  "Tunnel Of Love"

Bruce Springsteen

vs.

Dire Straits

6)  "Any Day Now"

Missy Higgins

vs.

Ronnie Milsap

7)  "Only The Lonely"

Roy Orbison

vs.

The Motels

8)  "1, 2, 3, 4"

Plain White T's

vs.

Feist

9)  "Animal"

Neon Trees

vs.

Pearl Jam

10)  "This Kiss"

Carly Rae Jepsen

vs.

Faith Hill

*Apologies to Sara Bareilles, who penned and performed a terrific tune called "Love Song." But alas, I had posted that song here recently in my "Songs with 'Song' In The Title" entry. Incidentally, in that same post I included The Cure's original version of the 311 song covered here.