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(Originally finalized on October 3, 2024)
Preface: I'm not gonna make too big a deal about reaching 100 "weeks", since my music log is organized into sets of 13 and not 10, and we're approaching an even more meaningful milestone, which will occur on week 104 - which marks the conclusion of the second year's worth of themes, and the point at which there is as much material beyond the music log's original shelf date as was initially planned at its inception. But it seems like the perfect time to do a sequel to my Counting Numbers theme - this time, with bigger numbers!
Monday: Humble Pie - 30 Days In The Hole [Smokin', 1972]
Comments: Steve Marriott's powerful and distinctive vocals keep this band - which merges rock with other styles including R&B and soul - sounding consistent, on what would prove to become a smash hit from their first album with Clem Clempson in place of guitarist Peter Frampton (who would rocket out of the stratosphere as a solo artist in 1976 with Frampton Comes Alive!). To this day, it's one of the songs most people know best from Humble Pie.
Tuesday: Shinedown - 45 [Leave A Whisper, 2003]
Comments: Although this is decidedly an out of ordinary choice for this music log, I have no reservations including it here, being one of the vanishingly few modern rock songs from the post-millennial period that has broken through my defenses and captured my attention. Knowing that the central image conveyed by this song - "staring down the barrel of a .45" - is a metaphor for (as I like to see it) mortality and the impermanence of life, used as a motivational device (better make your moments count, and not take things for granted), just enhances my appreciation for it.
Wednesday: James Gang - Funk #49 [James Gang Rides Again, 1970]
Comments: You might not know it by name, but chances are, when this song comes on the radio, you recognize it. Performed by the James Gang - featuring guitarist and singer Joe Walsh (before he joined The Eagles) - it's something of a sequel to a song titled Funk #48 (of course) from their previous album. While sharing a lot of similarities, the earlier song is actually funkier, but this one sounds more polished and radio friendly.
Thursday: Sammy Hagar - I Can't Drive 55 [VOA, 1984]
Comments: In 1985, Sammy Hagar would famously replace David Lee Roth as the voice of Van Halen (for better or worse, depending on your opinion). What's surprising is that he released eight albums as a solo artist before that. This track, easily one of his biggest hits, was from the eighth. Predictably inspired by getting a speeding ticket, who among us can't relate - at least to some degree - to the sentiment expressed in this song?
Friday: Johnny Winter - Highway 61 Revisited [Second Winter, 1969]
Comments: The title track from Bob Dylan's first fully electric album (well, except for the closer) from 1965 - which opens with Like A Rolling Stone, featuring the primary stars of Bloomfield & Kooper's Super Session on guitar and organ - I find the use of the siren whistle tacky (hear it for yourself). So instead, here's Johnny Winter's cover version from his second (official) album, which cleverly replaces the whistle with slide guitar.
Saturday: REO Speedwagon - 157 Riverside Avenue (Live) [A Decade Of Rock And Roll, 1980]
Comments: Originally featured on their debut album, this is another song that found new life on stage. With ample room for each instrumentalist to show off, singer Kevin Cronin - who joined the band after the studio version was recorded - would improvise elaborate stories leading up to the climactic face-off between his voice and Gary Richrath's guitar. It's my favorite song by this band.
Sunday: Zager & Evans - In The Year 2525 (Exordium and Terminus) [released as a single, 1969]
Comments: As far as I can tell, Zager & Evans were a songwriting duo sort of like Simon & Garfunkel, although their only claim to notoriety appears to be this one hit single. However, it's quite an imaginative song, in the fashion of true, hard-boiled sci-fi. In three short minutes, it tracks 10,000 years of technological development into mankind's future, taking a cautionary stance on subjects such as mind control drugs, android bodies, artificial birth, depletion of the planet's resources, god's judgment... It may only be an appetizer, but it's good brain food. And catchy, too!