NFL Update

I'm starting to think that the Bills are like the Saints from a few years ago -- they somehow always find a way to lose in the playoffs, no matter how good they look in the regular season.  Also, props to Philly for putting the Giants away early -- those guys are dangerous if you let them hang around.  And props to Patrick Mahomes for beating Jacksonville with only one leg.

Here are the scores so far in the quarter-finals:

National Football Conference:

Philadelphia 38 - 7 New York

American Football Conference:

Kansas City 27 - 20 Jacksonville

Buffalo 10 - 27 Cincinnati

That just leaves the Niners and the Cowboys, who are meeting in the playoffs for the ninth time.

45 Years Ago in Music

 I decided to have some fun here at the beginning of the year looking back in time at music.  Waiting for new releases this time of year and so it's always fun to listen to older stuff.  I thought I would do something to countdown the last 45 years by fives.

So 45 years ago it was 1978.  I didn't go back to 50 years because I really don't know what I was doing that much at 5 in terms of listening to music, but by 1978 I had bought my first album and was buying singles and was starting to build an album collection.  

According to Best Albums of 1978 : Best Ever Albums the top 10 albums of 1978 were:

1. Darkness on the Edge of Town by Bruce Springsteen
2. Parallel Lines by Blondie
3. The Cars by The Cars
4. This Year's Model by Elvis Costello
5. Van Halen by Van Halen
6. Die Mensch-Maschine by Kraftwerk
7. Some Girls by The Rolling Stones
8. The Kick Inside by Kate Bush
9. More Songs About Buildings and Food by Talking Heads
10. Music for 18 Musicians by Steve Reich

It's hard to find a list of the top selling albums of 1978, at least I haven't had much luck.  I keep finding information on the best selling album all time that came out in 1978.  but I do know the top seller that years was the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack.  Here are the albums that spent at least two weeksat Billboard number 1 in 1978

1. Saturday Night Fever (23 weeks)
2. Grease (12 weeks)
3. 52nd Street (7 weeks)
4. Rumours by Fleetwood Mac (2 weeks)
5. Some Girls by The Rolling Stones (2 weeks)
6. Don't Look Back by Boston (2 weeks)

The top Bilboard singles of 1978 were:

1. Shadow Dancing by Andy Gibb
2. Night Fever by Bee Gees
3. You Light Up My Life by Debby Boone
4. Stayin Alive by Bee Gees
5. Kiss You All Over by Exile
6. How Deep Is Your Love by Bee Gees
7. Baby Come Back by Player
8. Thicker Than Water by Andy Gibb
9. Boogie Oogie Oogie by A Tast of Honey
10. Three Times a Lady by Commodores

I'll finish this off with playlist for you all from 1978.  Some of the music I still listen to today.  

My Favorite 10 Songs of the Last Seven Days

Congratulations, Marching Maroons, on their third Kentucky Music Educators Association "distinguished" performance of the season, despite a jarring pre-show technical glitch. Now it's on to Berea and the Class 4A semifinals this coming Saturday.

1. Rocketman, Marching Maroons at state Class 4A quarterfinals in Hopkinsville on Oct. 22, 2022
2. This Tornado Loves You, Neko Case live on Letterman on April 15, 2009
3. Hello Sunday Hello Road, Gil-Scott Heron
4. Stray Paper, Tift Merritt
5. Making Muffins, MVcubed
6. Every Ghetto Every City, Lauryn Hill
7. I’m Glad There Is You, Patti York live at the 1975 Jerry Lewis MDA telethon
8. The Way You Move Me, Gretchen Peters
9. Damn It All, Staves
10. Fisherman’s Blues, Waterboys live in Dublin 2015

My Favorite 10 Songs of the Last Seven Days

Mayfield High School's marching band is running around western Kentucky playing a chipper show called "Sunny," and let that sink in for a moment.

1. Rocketman, Madisonville-North Hopkins Marching Maroons at Hopkinsville festival Oct. 15
2. Sunny, Mayfield High School marching band at Hopkinsville festival Oct. 15
3. I Saw the Light, Patti York live at the 1975 Jerry Lewis MDA telethon
4. Damn It All, Staves
5. Fisherman’s Blues, Waterboys live in Dublin 2015
6. Weekend Groove, Jesse “JTJazz” Thomas featuring Althea René
7. Hello Sunday Hello Road, Gil Scott-Heron
8. Every Ghetto Every City, Lauryn Hill
9. When the Going Gets Tough, Billy Ocean
10. Kennedy & Monroe, Hot Pink Hangover

My Favorite 10 Songs of the Last Seven Days

Congratulations to the Madisonville-North Hopkins High School Marching Maroons on achieving a Kentucky Music Educators Association (KMEA) distinguished rating for their finals performance Saturday night at the Murray State University Festival of Champions in Roy Stewart Stadium.

1. Rocket Man, Marching Maroons at Murray State University Festival of Champions on Oct. 1, 2022
2. "Heard It All Before," Sunshine Anderson
3. "Bobby Tanqueray," Lake Street Dive
4. "Every Ghetto Every City," Lauryn Hill
5. "Sleeping in a Car," Staves
6. "My Wife Thinks You’re Dead," Junior Brown
7. "But For Love," Mills Brothers
8. "Hell Yeah," Lake Street Dive at Rockwood on Nov. 12, 2015
9. "Made You Run," Jackie and the Treehorns
10. "Five Minutes," Gretchen Peters

My 10 Favorite Songs of the Last Seven Days

The hits just keep coming from the Jerry Lewis's 1975 MDA telethon. I attend church now in Madisonville with a woman who did youth ministry at a church in Las Vegas, where she worked with the New Zoo Revue people.

1. Rocketman movements 1 and 2, Marching Maroons
2. "Fly the Flag of Freedom," New Zoo Revue on 1975 Jerry Lewis MDA telethon
3. "Hounds of Love," Kate Bush
4. "The Laws Have Changed," New Pornographers on The Late Show with David Letterman 2003
5. "Hello Sunday! Hello Road!" Gil Scott-Heron live on With Ossie and Ruby 1975
6. "One-of-a-Kind Love Affair," Spinners live in Zaire
7. "Expert in a Dying Field," Beths
8. "The Nitty Gritty," Shirley Ellis with Bobby Banas live on The Judy Garland Show 1964
9. "That’s What You Get for Loving Me," Waylon Jennings
10. "2 Kool 2 Be 4-Gotten," Lucinda Williams

My 10 Favorite Songs of the Last Seven Days

Car Wheels on a Gravel Road came out in 1998, and I bought it and loved it then, but it took about two years for me to really start receiving the healing that God was delivering through Lucinda Williams and her record. The perfectest of the perfect songs on it is this one, which is written in exactly the pace and manner by which I process anything hard (no matter how hard I work to go more quickly or head on at the task):

1. "2 Kool 2 Be 4-gotten," Lucinda Williams
2. Rocketman movements 1 and 2 of four, Marching Maroons during 2022 Maroon Classic
3. “Crackers," Barbara Mandrell
4. "Get a Witness," Commodores
5. "Are You Sure Hank Done It This Way?" Waylon Jennings live on Soundstage 1975
6. "I Was Country When Country Wasn’t Cool," Barbara Mandrell
7. "That’s What You Get For Loving Me," Waylon Jennings
8. "A Woman’s Kind of Man," Susan Raye
9. "Soul Train ’75," Soul Train Gang
10. “Hurricane," Bob Dylan live on PBS 1975

My Favorite 10 Songs of the Last Seven Days

I, for one, loved the Elvis movie.

1. “Fallin’ In Love," Patti York at the 1975 MDA Labor Day Telethon
2. “That’s All Right,” Austin Butler in Elvis movie
3. "Saturday Night," Bay City Rollers
4. Best Song nominees, Gladys Knight and the Pips at the 1974 Grammys
5. "Damn It All," Staves
6. "The Way You Move Me," Gretchen Peters
7. "Sleeping in a Car," Staves
8. "Lovely Day," Philippe Saisse Trio
9. "I Believe I’m Gonna Love You," Frank Sinatra
10. "How Sweet It Is?," Lou Rawls at the 1975 MDA Labor Day Telethon

My Favorite 10 Songs of the Last Seven Days

I still haven't tallied up the statistics for 2021, but I feel pretty certain that the Staves (of Watford, Hertfordshire, England) were quantifiably my favorite musical act of last year.

1. "Sleeping In a Car," Staves
2. "Damn It All," Staves
3. "She’s Gone," Hall and Oates
4. "Blue Sky Mine," Midnight Oil
5. "Helplessly Hoping," Crosby, Stills and Nash
6. "Lovely Day," Philippe Saisse Trio
7. "Say It Isn’t So," Hall and Oates
8. "Mona Lisas and Madhatters," Elton John
9. "Let Me Down," Staves
10. "The Way You Move Me," Gretchen Peters

My Favorite 10 Songs of the Last Seven Days

I don't believe I'd ever seen the Nick Lowe video. "It's a pretty good little song, you know? ... I really love it. It cheers people up."

1. "Weekend Groove," Jesse “JTJazz” Thompson featuring Althea René
2. “Delicioso," Tom Grant
3. "Independence Day," The Reverend Shawn Amos and Lizzie No
4. "Feel Like Making Love," Bob James
5. "Take Five," George Benson
6. “Pile Up,” Bela Fleck, Edgar Meyer and Zakir Hussein, Aug. 11, 2010, in Salisbury, Mass.
7. "Letter to An Occupant," New Pornographers
8. "My Mistake," Marvin Gaye and Diana Ross
9. "Cruel To Be Kind," Nick Lowe
10. “Gravel," Ani DiFranco

My Favorite 10 Songs of the Last Seven Days

When my wife and daughter and I play board games during a meal in our dining room, it's typically to smooth jazz:

1. "Delicioso," Tom Grant (of Portland, Oregon)
2. "Fallin’ In Love," Hamilton, Joe Frank & Reynolds
3. "Six Days on the Road," Del Reeves 
4. "I Think It’s Gonna Work Out Fine," Ike and Tina Turner
5. "Weekend Groove," Jesse Thompson and Althea Rene
6. "In the Arts," New Zoo Revue
7. "Let Me Make the Bright Lights Shine for You," Bob Luman
8. American Music Awards opening number, Roy Clark/Helen Reddy/Sly Stone
9. "Let the River Flow," Carly Simon
10. "Rose Room," Jonah Jones

My Favorite 10 Songs of the Last Seven Days

Hat tip to Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, who introduced me to the Isley-Jasper-Isley song (go, big Dolphins!):

1. First movement of "Rocket Man" show, Madisonville-North Hopkins High School Marching Maroons
2. "Weekend Groove," Jesse Thompson and Althea Rene
3. "I’ve Just Seen a Face," Beatles
4. "Wild As A Birdsong," Heather Maloney
5. "I’m Coming Home," Spinners
6. "Caravan of Love," Isley-Jasper-Isley
7. "1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10 (6)," Sesame Street
8. "Typical Situation," Dave Matthews and Tim Reynolds
9. "Without Her," Glen Campbell
10. "Last Date," Blue Boys

My Favorite 10 Songs of the Last Seven Days

I've got a feeling the various movements of the Maroons' "Rocket Man" show are going to dominate the charts deep into the autumn.

1. First movement of "Rocket Man" show, Madisonville-North Hopkins High School Marching Maroons
2. "Without Her," Glen Campbell
3. "I’ve Just Seen a Face," Beatles
4. "Wild As a Birdsong," Heather Maloney
5. "I Can’t Get Started," Buddy De Franco Quintet
6. "Pep Rally," Missy Elliott
7. "Last Date," Blue Boys
8. "I’m Looking Through You," Beatles
9. "Then Came You," Spinners and Joni Sledge
10. "Penny Lane," Beatles

My Favorite 10 Songs of the Last Seven Days

I spent a lot of last week in a car with my older brothers, and so that meant there was a fair amount of Jim Croce listening to be done. And then that reminded me of this John Denver performance that I keep coming back to.

1. "Prisoners," John Denver
2. "Wild as a Birdsong, Heather Maloney
3. "This Is the Sea," Waterboys
4. "One Less Set of Footsteps," Jim Croce
5. "Then Came You," Spinners
6. "Operator," Jim Croce
7. "Last Date," Blue Boys
8. "Goodbye (She Quietly Says)," Frank Sinatra
9. "Just What I Needed," Punch Brothers
10. "I’ll Have to Say I Love You in a Song," Jim Croce