9:37 a.m. - February 23, 2008
The Heart Mix - For My Sister - Disc 1
Thanks for all of the prayers and thoughts. My sister is doing OK. It took a lot out of her, and she doesn�t have a lot of energy. But I�m glad I came down here even if it was just visiting a couple of hours a day. That�s what she needed.
Well, that and a couple of mixes. You KNOW I couldn�t come empty handed.
My sister is a bit older, and she was the one who started me in this here music thing deal bit as I inherited a whole bunch of tunes from her when she flew the coop. But she�s also a little more�conventional�in her choice of tunes. Ah, well. We can�t all be rebels, can we? If we were what would we rebel against?
So I made two CDs with a theme. On one, it was songs I bet she mostly knew and the second was songs I bet she didn�t know. But they all had a theme. It�s pretty easy to guess what the theme is, too.
Disc 1.
1. I�m Having A Heart Attack � They Might Be Giants. Part of the �Fingertips� medley, I HAD to start with this one, and it�s only 22 seconds.
2. Movin� Out � Billy Joel. This is what started the mix. You�re wondering, why this song? But then, remember the end of the first verse, �working too hard can give you a heart attack-ack-ack-ack�! Yeah, I�m sick like that. But my sister likes Billy Joel, and I like this tune. I especially like the cymbal work by Liberty DeVitto.
3. Heart And Soul � Huey Lewis & The News. Yeah, it�s a corny tune, but it works, and it�s not smarmy like many HL&TN tracks. At least it�s not that smarmy. This is a Chinn / Chapman song, and it would have been a hit for anyone, really.
4. Owner Of A Lonely Heart � Yes. At times, Yes can be full of it, but on their 90125 comeback, Trevor Rabin recorded one of the best guitar riffs ever and then Chris Squire picked up on it and propelled the song using it as his bass line. Fantastic!
5. Closer To The Heart � Rush. Ok, everyone sing! �And the men who hold high places��
6. Hard To Get Over A Heartbreak � The Raspberries. My sister may not remember this one, though. It was an album track by this pop band, and written and sung by the bass player. But it still is a hella tune!
7. Bringin� On The Heartbreak � Def Leppard. This is one that everyone can get their lighters out for, you know. And it�s another one that everyone can sing along, though Joe Elliott really stretches out some of the syllables in the bridge leading to the chorus.
8. Hungry Heart � Bruce Springsteen. This probably is the quintessential Springsteen song in sound and lyrics, even though its about a dude who just runs out on his family. Ah, well.
9. Heartbreaker � Pat Benatar. I loved it in Fast Times At Ridgemont High when they had three �Benatar�s�. Man, she was a teenager�s dream back in her day. Though I think any teenager would be putty in her hands. Wait, that�s not putty.
10. Hearts On Fire � Randy Meisner. Remember this one? Oh, you do, don�t you? Never mind the video, just listen to the tune. You know, he was replaced by Timothy B. Schmidt in TWO different bands. That�s some sort of record, right?
11. Doo Doo Doo Doo Doo (Heartbreaker) � The Rolling Stones. Well, Goats Head Soup, as an album, was full of �doo doo�, but this tune was a�ight.
12. Heartbeat � Buddy Holly. Why DO you miss when my baby kisses me? Next time I kiss Liz, I�ll have a defib handy�CLEAR!
13. Cold, Cold Heart � Hank Williams. The man was a genius. He was a drunk, too. But he was a genius!
14. Queen Of Hearts � Juice Newton. Yeah, I have this in my collection. So what? You can�t help but sing along to it, you know. Resistance is futile, and the joker is the only fool to keep me away from you.
15. Only Love Can Break Your Heart � Neil Young. I think this may be one of the underrated songs in Young�s canon. It is overshadowed by his better known hits of that era, but this is a powerful song.
16. You�re Breaking My Heart � Harry Nilsson. Just don�t sing along to this while the kids are awake, ya know. Why? You know why!
17. Heart Of Glass � Blondie. Ah, Blondie. I finally had a chance to hear their first two records, but still for me Parallel Lines is their best one. And it was available in the public library in Crawfordsville. How about that, eh?
18. Love Is Like An Itching In My Heart � The Supremes. They had a lot more hits than what is now played on oldies radio. This was in a 6-CD Rhino collection and it works, but I don�t like the Supremes as much as other Motown acts. I always think the production sounds claustrophobic.
19. Danger Heartbreak Dead Ahead � The Marvelettes. Another great Motown classic. I prefer them to the Supremes, but that�s just me and my ears.
20. Piece Of My Heart � Erma Franklin. For all the success of Janis Joplin, she basically knew her source material was the key to success. Here, Aretha�s sister gives a soulful treatment of probably most famous Joplin tune, and you can tell where Janis got her soul.
21. You�ll Never Get To Heaven (If You Break My Heart) � The Stylistics. I�ve always loved this song, even as a kid. But for years I thought it was �you�ll never get to heaven if you wreck my car.� My 10-year old ears weren�t as sharp as my ears are now.
22. How Can You Mend A Broken Heart � The Bee Gees. I don�t think the answered the question, did they? But this is one of the Bee Gees best. It can bring a tear to your eye for sure.
23. You�re In My Heart (The Final Acclaim) � Rod Stewart. I always think Bryan Ferry sings like he�s about to get laid (or just got laid) but Rod The Bod�s work after the early 70�s is a close second, you know.
24. Heartbeat � It�s A Lovebeat � The DeFranco Family. And when we meet�it�s a good sensation! Listen to my heart pound! Listen to my love sound!
Well, that�s Disc 1. Disc 2 will come later. I�ll have more videos for that since you may not know the tunes. Rock on!
And thanks again!
