And Away We Go....

The main reason behind this blog was an idea I had to list and share my favorite songs (in ascending order) with accompanying essays explaining what it is I like about them. Now, mind you, these are subjective favorites, not objective 'greatest' songs. They reflect my emotions, experiences and biases, I'm sure.  Some of them you've heard a billion times, some you've never even heard of. Some you'll love, some you'll hate. But I hope I'l get you to listen (or re-listen) to them, at any rate. But, like every other wiseass music geek on the planet, I have the best taste in the universe. They'll be posted at the rate of roughly one a day. So without further ado....

300. Magic Lanterns "Frisco Annie"

This song is a weird example of what happened to pop music post-Cream and Hendrix. This was a Manchester, England based outfit who failed to hit (and who once featured a vocalist named Mike 'Oz' Osbourne, oddly enough). So songwriter Albert Hammond (writer of "It Never Rains In Southern California" and others, and father of one of The Strokes, but I forgive him) and some session guys threw this together. The big fuzzy guitar and thuddy bass are right out of the Blue Cheer playbook, but the melody and harmonies could've come from the Brill Building or the Archies. The result is a wonderful pice of very chewy bubblegum spiked with some Lysergic Flavr-Crystals. And the percussion adds just a smidgen of danceability to the proceedings to match the incredibly infectious chorus. Manufactured, yeah. But if you manufacture well, you get credit from me, and these guys were making pop-rock songs like Henry Ford made cars at least for one single.