Grunge Music, Vol. 2

Here's part 2 of 4 featuring the best, most influential, blah-blah-blah "grunge" rock songs from years gone by. Throw on your flannel shirt, don't wash your hair for a few weeks, and enjoy!  ~  JH

1)  Soundgarden  ~  “The Day I Tried To Live”

2)  Stone Temple Pilots  ~  “Interstate Love Song”

3)  Nirvana  ~  “Heart-Shaped Box”

4)  Pearl Jam  ~  “Jeremy”

5)  Alice In Chains  ~  “Rooster”

6)  Dinosaur Jr.  ~  “Feel The Pain”

7)  Seven Mary Three  ~  “Cumbersome”

8)  The Presidents Of The United States Of America  ~  “Peaches”

9)  Toadies  ~  “Possum Kingdom”

10)  Bush  ~  “Glycerine”

11)  Sponge  ~  “Plowed”

12)  The Smashing Pumpkins  ~  “Bullet With Butterfly Wings”

13)  Veruca Salt  ~  “Volcano Girls”

14)  Pearl Jam  ~  “Even Flow”

15)  Nirvana  ~  “Come As You Are”

16)  Soundgarden  ~  “Pretty Noose”

17)  Alice In Chains  ~  “Down In A Hole”

18)  Stone Temple Pilots  ~  “Sex Type Thing”

19)  Mudhoney  ~  “Suck You Dry”

20)  L7  ~  “Stuck Here Again”

21)  The Smashing Pumpkins  ~  “Disarm”

22)  Our Lady Peace  ~  “Clumsy”

23)  Jen Trynin  ~  “Better Than Nothing”

24)  Mother Love Bone  ~  “Stardog Champion”

25)  Skin Yard  ~  “1,000 Smiling Knuckles”

Grunge Music, Vol. 1

Here's a miniseries of posts that I can certainly relate to – and I'm sure I'm not the only one! This is the first set in what will be a four-part retrospective of some of the best, most influential, and most memorable songs from the "grunge rock" era of music. Which was both not that long ago and ancient history, depending on your perspective. Before we get started, I will concede that we're not all going to agree 100% on whether or not certain songs herein are legitimately "grunge," "post-grunge," punk, pop, or something else entirely – and that's okay. Let's just jam to some good music and don't waste time fighting about the genre ascribed to the songs (by myself or others). Ready...set...enjoy!  ~  JH

1)  Nirvana  ~  “Smells Like Teen Spirit”

2)  Pearl Jam  ~  “Animal”

3)  Soundgarden  ~  “Black Hole Sun”

4)  Alice In Chains  ~  “No Excuses”

5)  Stone Temple Pilots  ~  “Vasoline”

6)  Mudhoney  ~  “Touch Me I’m Sick”

7)  Screaming Trees  ~  “Nearly Lost You”

8)  L7  ~  “Pretend We’re Dead”

9)  Paw  ~  “Couldn’t Know”

10)  Veruca Salt  ~  “Seether”

11)  Silverchair  ~  “Tomorrow”

12)  The Smashing Pumpkins  ~  “Today”

13)  Hole  ~  “Miss World”

14)  Bush  ~  “Everything Zen”

15)  Candlebox  ~  “Far Behind”

16)  Sponge  ~  “Molly (16 Candles)”

17)  Our Lady Peace  ~  “Superman’s Dead”

18)  The Presidents Of The United States Of America  ~  “Lump”

19)  Blind Melon  ~  “No Rain”

20)  Days Of The New  ~  “Touch, Peel, And Stand”

21)  Babes In Toyland  ~  “Bruise Violet”  (It's almost scary how much the lead singer of this group looks like a crazed Reese Witherspoon.)

22)  Melvins  ~  “Honey Bucket”

23)  The Gits  ~  “Second Skin”  (There's a very sad-but-true story about the untimely demise of this band's lead singer. I won't rehash it here, but you can Google it.)

24)  Hum  ~  “Stars”

25)  Local H  ~  “Bound For The Floor”

“Snap,” “Crackle,” & “Pop” Songs, Vol. 2

The second and final installment in this oddly conceived, Rice Krispies-inspired series of posts. "Snap," "Crackle," & "Pop" Songs. And...GO!  ~  JH

1)  Prince and the New Power Generation  ~  “Daddy Pop”

2)  Teena Marie  ~  “Snap Your Finger”

3)  The John Scofield Band  ~  “Snap Crackle Pop”

4)  Levert  ~  “Pop Pop Pop Goes My Mind”

5)  Prong  ~  “Snap Your Fingers, Snap Your Neck”

6)  Emily Browne  ~  “Snap & Crackle”

7)  Pet Shop Boys  ~  “The Pop Kids”

8)  Ronnie Milsap  ~  “Snap Your Fingers”

9)  Podunk Nowhere  ~  “Crackle And Shake”

10)  R.E.M.  ~  “Pop Song ’89”

11)  The 59’s  ~  “Snap!”

12)  Tereu Tereu  ~  “Crackle & Hiss”

13)  Men Without Hats  ~  “Pop Goes The World”

14)  Snap!  ~  “Cult Of Snap”

15)  Alien Breed  ~  “Crackling”

16)  Stone Temple Pilots  ~  “Pop’s Love Suicide”

17)  Squeeze  ~  “Snap, Crackle, And Pop”

18)  Liza Brönner  ~  “Snap Crackle Pop”  (This song is totally in some other language, except for the three words in the title. Whatever she’s singing about, it sure sounds great!)

19)  Alan Jackson  ~  “Pop A Top”

20)  Ray Columbus ft. The Art Collection  ~  “Snap, Crackle, And Pop”

Songs With Alliterative Titles – From A to Z

Every now and then (read: EVERY DAY OF MY LIFE!), my inner "word nerd" makes a cameo appearance, and as a result a post like this one happens. Don't ask why. Just enjoy!  ~  JH

1)  The Smashing Pumpkins  ~  “Ava Adore”

2)  Taylor Swift ft. Kendrick Lamar  ~  “Bad Blood”

3)  Harry Chapin  ~  “Cat’s In The Cradle”

4)  Michael Jackson  ~  “Dirty Diana”

5)  Judas Priest  ~  “Electric Eye”

6)  Tom Petty  ~  “Free Fallin’”

7)  Marvin Gaye  ~  “Got To Give It Up”

8)  Whitney Houston ft. Faith Evans & Kelly Price  ~  “Heartbreak Hotel”

9)  My Morning Jacket  ~  “In Its Infancy (The Waterfall)”

10)  The Brian Setzer Orchestra  ~  “Jump Jive An’ Wail”

11)  Culture Club  ~  “Karma Chameleon”  (“K”… “Ch”… Close enough!) 

12)  Zara Larsson  ~  “Lush Life”

13)  Usher  ~  “Moving Mountains”

14)  Ne-Yo  ~  “Never Knew I Needed”  

15)  Patti Labelle ft. Michael McDonald  ~  “On My Own”

16)  Stone Temple Pilots  ~  “Pretty Penny”

17)  Carla Bruni  ~  “Quelqu'un m'a dit”  (Please don’t ask me to pronounce this title.)

18)  Rihanna  ~  “Russian Roulette”

19)  A Great Big World ft. Christina Aguilera  ~  “Say Something”

20)  Sam Hunt  ~  “Take Your Time”

21)  Alvvays  ~  “Underneath Us”  (Not the best song in the bunch, but it’s the best I could come up with for a “U” song.)

22)  Coldplay  ~  “Viva La Vida”

23)  Run-D.M.C. ft. Aerosmith  ~  “Walk This Way”

24)  MØ  ~  “XXX 88”  (Okay, maybe this title’s a bit of a stretch, but I’ll challenge you to come up with a better “X” song. Because I can’t.)

25)  The Coasters  ~  “Yakety Yak”

26)  The Mighty Mighty Bosstones ft. The Count  ~  “Zig Zag Dance”

“Wicked” Songs

It's not what you think. These songs, in and of themselves, aren't wicked. But each of them does contain the word "Wicked" somewhere in its title. Some good stuff here. Ya might as well check it out. Enjoy!  ~  JH

1)  Cage The Elephant  ~  “Ain’t No Rest For The Wicked”

2)  Dorothy  ~  “Wicked Ones”

3)  Stone Temple Pilots  ~  “Wicked Garden”

4)  Gaither Homecoming ft. Jessy Dixon  ~  “The Wicked Shall Cease Their Troubling”

5)  Chris Isaak  ~  “Wicked Game”

6)  Ghost And Gale  ~  “Wicked Heart”

7)  Chester See  ~  “Wicked”

8)  Del McCoury ft. Garrison Keillor, Stuart Duncan, Richard Kriehn, & Larry Kohut  ~  “Wicked Path Of Sin”

9)  Cold  ~  “Wicked World”

10)  Garbage  ~  “Wicked Ways”

11)  Sea Wolf  ~  “Wicked Blood”

12)  Diana Vickers  ~  “My Wicked Heart”

13)  Los Lobos  ~  “Wicked Rain”

14)  Slash  ~  “Wicked Stone”

15)  Horse  ~  “Something Wicked This Way Comes”

16)  Reckless Kelly  ~  “Wicked Twisted Road”

17)  Keith Richards  ~  “Wicked As It Seems”

18)  PJ Harvey  ~  “This Wicked Tongue”

19)  Passenger  ~  “Wicked Man’s Rest”

20)  Lone Justice  ~  “Ways To Be Wicked”

21)  Lykke Li  ~  “No Rest For The Wicked”

22)  John Hiatt  ~  “No Wicked Grin”

23)  Imelda May  ~  “Wicked Way”

24)  The Dø  ~  “The Wicked & The Blind”

25)  Ben Harper & The Blind Boys Of Alabama  ~  “Wicked Man”