Popular Songs Of 1956, Vol. 1

I'll bet you thought I was done with these "Popular Songs Of..." posts for the year, didn't you? Well, I am...after this two-parter. But I couldn't neglect one of the biggest years in the early days of rock 'n' roll (as well as a solid year for traditional pop), could I? You don't have to answer that. You just have to listen (if you want to)...and enjoy!  ~  JH

1)  Elvis Presley  ~  “Heartbreak Hotel”

2)  The Platters  ~  “The Great Pretender”

3)  Doris Day  ~  “Que Sera Sera”

4)  Dean Martin  ~  “Memories Are Made Of This”

5)  Morris Stoloff  ~  “Moonglow and Theme From Picnic”

6)  Pat Boone  ~  “I Almost Lost My Mind”

7)  Kay Starr  ~  “Rock And Roll Waltz”

8)  Carl Perkins  ~  “Blue Suede Shoes”  (Why would I not include Elvis’ version of this song? For one, I already have 5 Elvis songs lined up for these posts. And for another, Perkins released his version eight months earlier and became one of the biggest hits of Perkins’ long and distinguished career. So there!)

9)  Johnnie Ray  ~  “Just Walkin’ In The Rain / If I Had You”

10)  Elvis Presley  ~  “Don’t Be Cruel”

11)  Perry Como  ~  “Hot Diggity (Dog Ziggity Boom)”

12)  Gene Vincent and His Blue Caps  ~  “Be-Bop-A-Lula”

13)  Fats Domino  ~  “Blueberry Hill”

14)  Guy Mitchell  ~  “Singing The Blues”

15)  Bing Crosby & Grace Kelly  ~  “True Love”

16)  Patti Page  ~  “Allegheny Moon”

17)  Frankie Lymon & The Teenagers  ~  “Why Do Fools Fall In Love?”

18)  Elvis Presley  ~  “I Want You, I Need You, I Love You”

Songs About Getting Shot

When you've done as many music posts as I have over the past few years, it can be difficult to come up with new and exciting ideas. But not today! Today, I have for you a collection of Songs About Getting Shot. And that's anything BUT boring! Umm...enjoy?  ~  JH

1)  Bon Jovi  ~  “Shot Through The Heart”  (Ironically, Bon Jovi's "You Give Love A Bad Name" – which is NOT in this group of songs – was the inspiration for this post. Turns out they have ANOTHER song with the iconic "Shot Through The Heart" lyric in it, this one in its title. Go figure!)

2)  Elvis Costello  ~  “Shot With His Own Gun”

3)  Imagine Dragons  ~  “Shots”

4)  Lady Gaga  ~  “Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down)”

5)  Nazareth  ~  “Shot Me Down”

6)  Eric Clapton  ~  “I Shot The Sheriff”

7)  Filter  ~  “Hey Man, Nice Shot”

8)  Florrie  ~  “Shot You Down”

9)  Great White  ~  “Shot In The Dark”

10)  Moby  ~  “Shot In The Back Of The Head”

11)  Pat Benatar  ~  “Hit Me With Your Best Shot”

12)  The Rasmus  ~  “Shot”

13)  Christina Perri  ~  “Shot In The Heart”

14)  Protoje ft. Toian  ~  “Shot By Love”

15)  T-killah ft. Lena Katina  ~  “Shot”  (I'd heard this song was even better in its original language – Russian – and whaddyaknow, it is! Check it out here.)

"Flesh" & "Blood" Songs

You may or may not have noticed, but this will be the third post in just over a week featuring songs with "Blood" and some other word (or words) in their titles. That's because when I research for songs that fit a certain "theme," I am very thorough in so doing. And there are a heckuva lot of good songs with the word "Blood" in their titles. Thus the "Blood" and "Guts" post, then the "Blood," "Sweat," and "Tears" post, and now these "Flesh" and "Blood" songs. There won't be any more "Blood" songs for awhile. So enjoy these while they last!  ~  JH

1)  Blondie  ~  “In The Flesh”

2)  Supergrass  ~  “Bad Blood”

3)  The Pierces  ~  “Flesh And Bone”

4)  Eels  ~  “Fresh Blood”

5)  Leon Patillo  ~  “Flesh Of My Flesh”

6)  Sum 41  ~  “Blood In My Eyes”  (WARNING: This music video is exceptionally violent. Parental discretion is strongly advised.)

7)  Dillon  ~  “Your Flesh Against Mine”

8)  Suzanne Vega  ~  “Blood Sings”

9)  The Killers  ~  “Flesh And Bone”

10)  Grimes  ~  “Flesh Without Blood / Life In The Vivid Dream”

11)  Radical Face  ~  “A Pound Of Flesh”

12)  Better Than Ezra  ~  “In The Blood”

13)  Santana  ~  “Spirits Dancing In The Flesh”

14)  Birdy  ~  “Young Blood”

15)  The Low Anthem  ~  “Smart Flesh”

16)  Bastille  ~  “Bad Blood”

17)  Wilson Phillips  ~  “Flesh And Blood”

18)  Bea Miller  ~  “Young Blood”

19)  Caitelen Schneeberger  ~  “Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence”

20)  Apocalyptica  ~  “Cold Blood”

21)  Calabrese  ~  “Flesh And Blood”

22)  All Sons & Daughters  ~  “Your Glory / Nothing But The Blood”

23)  Roesy  ~  “The Backbone, Flesh, And The Fruit”

24)  Saint Raymond  ~  “Young Blood”

25)  Johnny Cash  ~  “Flesh And Blood”

Songs About Arithmetic

Last but not least in this "3 R's" miniseries, here's a small set of Songs About Arithmetic. Apparently, arithmetic is not nearly as popular a subject for songs as the other two, because there's only ten of these. Enjoy!  ~  JH

1)  Brooke Fraser  ~  “Arithmetic”

2)  Jónsi  ~  “Animal Arithmetic”

3)  Lettice Rowbotham  ~  “Arithmetic Of Love”

4)  The Camerawalls  ~  “My Life’s Arithmetic Means”

5)  David Ramirez  ~  “Arithmetic”

6)  dEUS  ~  “Little Arithmetics”

7)  Girls In Trouble  ~  “New Arithmetic”

8)  Victorian Hardware  ~  “Purple Arithmetic”

9)  Birdfeeder  ~  “Hidden Hand Arithmetic”

10)  Eric B. & Rakim  ~  “Chinese Arithmetic”

Songs About Writing

Here's part 2 of 3 in a miniseries of posts featuring songs with the famously misnamed "3 R's" (Reading, Writing, and Arithmetic). In the first of the "3 R's" which does not actually start with an "R," we have a set of songs with the word "Write" or "Writing" (or some other derivative) in their titles. Ready... set... enjoy!  ~  JH

1)  The Hollies  ~  “Write On”

2)  John Legend & The Roots  ~  “I Can’t Write Left-Handed”

3)  Elvis Costello & The Attractions  ~  “Everyday I Write The Book”

4)  Francesca Battistelli  ~  “Write Your Story”

5)  Earth, Wind, & Fire  ~  “I’ll Write A Song For You”

6)  George Strait  ~  “Write This Down”

7)  Barry Manilow  ~  “I Write The Songs”

8)  Kina Grannis  ~  “Write It In The Sky”

9)  Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit  ~  “The Last Song I Will Write”

10)  Newton Faulkner  ~  “Write It On Your Skin”

11)  Ron Pope  ~  “Writing Letters”

12)  Helen Reddy  ~  “Think I’ll Write A Song”

13)  Hugh Grant  ~  “Don’t Write Me Off”

14)  Sam Smith  ~  “Writing’s On The Wall”

15)  Harry Connick, Jr.  ~  “I Could Write A Book”

16)  Belle and Sebastian  ~  “Write About Love”

17)  OK Go  ~  “The Writing’s On The Wall”

18)  The Low Anthem  ~  “To The Ghosts Who Write History Books”

19)  Father John Misty  ~  “I’m Writing A Novel”

20)  Bonnie Raitt  ~  “Write Me A Few Of Your Lines / Kokomo Blues / Walkin’ Blues”

Songs About Reading

Here's a new three-part series for you about the hilariously misnamed "3 R's." That's right – we'll be exploring first Songs About Reading, then Writing, and then Arithmetic. School is in session...enjoy!  ~  JH

1)  Gordon Lightfoot  ~  “If You Could Read My Mind”

2)  Midnight Oil  ~  “Read About It”

3)  The Killers  ~  “Read My Mind”

4)  Stevie Wonder  ~  “As If You Read My Mind”

5)  Brian McKnight  ~  “Can You Read My Mind?”

6)  Professor Green ft. Emeli Sandé  ~  “Read All About It”

7)  Don Henley  ~  “Johnny Can’t Read”

8)  Meat Loaf  ~  “Read ‘Em And Weep”

9)  Lauren Christy  ~  “You Read Me Wrong”

10)  Robert Plant & Alison Krauss  ~  “Please Read The Letter”

11)  Concrete Blonde  ~  “Jenny I Read”

12)  Mary Chapin Carpenter  ~  “Read My Lips”

13)  La Dispute  ~  “Woman (Reading)”

14)  Tim McGraw  ~  “If You’re Reading This”

15)  Jimmy Fallon  ~  “The Doors Sing ‘Reading Rainbow’”