#100: Don Henley - The Boys Of Summer


"Out on the road today I saw a Deadhead sticker on a Cadillac"
That right there is one of the most perfect lyrics ever. So good it's practically poetry, perfectly capturing the transition from hippie, to yuppie. While not the true King of Yacht Rock (That title is justifiably held by the Blue Jean Committee) Don Henley is a least one of the founding fathers of the genre. It felt right to have him make the cut since, spoiler alert the Eagles will not be making an appearance on my top 100 (despite repeated listenings to their greatest hits in my best friend Sam's Montero in HS). 

But I do genuinely love this song. It makes me wish I wasn't just rolling around as a 2 year old in diapers when it came out. Did you know it was written by the Heartbreakers guitarist Mike Campbell, and he originally offered it up to Tom Petty himself? Petty passed on it, but after learning that I can't listen to the song without hearing what it might have sounded like coming from his gravely voice instead of Mr. Smooth Henley. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

There have to be rules...

       Ok before we get down to the nitty gritty and start talking songs (or after actually since this will be the bottom most post come to think of it)... I thought I'd take a moment to go over my rules and methodology.       First and foremost though, this project is heavily indebted to my friend Jason who started with his own Top 100 project, via a selective email distribution list (and you thought I was being retro with my Blogger account!), but which quickly turned into www.theJason100.com  with his own merch and everything! I don't aspire to such greatness, but I am going to steal his first rule... One artist, one song, no repeats . Ok so I might fudge this one a little bit once or twice, but I think adding this restriction was the biggest challenge and also the thing that made it the most fun to work on.  My methodology ... I couldn't just start with a blank page and come up with 100 songs. So I broke it down into 10 list. 10 "Gen...
Read more

#99: Muse - Knights Of Cydonia

Image
"And how can we win when fools can be kings, don't waste your time or time will waste you" This song rocks so hard, it's really a miracle of modern rock. It's like a prayer to the Gods of Rock.  Turn the volume up and let it flow over you. I'm not a huge Muse fan, but this song is amazing. The falsetto voice, the unconventional song structure, the spaghetti-western guitar riff, and the 6 min length... there's nothing like it.  Jess is a big Muse fan and I surprised her with some standing room floor tickets to see them live back when we lived in Boston. Their lead singer, Matt Bellamy , is not the most attractive guy under normal circumstances... but when he's playing guitar wailing into a mic, shirt un-buttoned, fans blowing... you just can't help but feel something. 
Read more