Scenes From An Italian Restaurant (Billy Joel) This is one of my favorite Billy Joel songs and one of the best on one of his best albums (THE STRANGER). With the number of hits and popular songs Billy Joel had, I'm not sure this is the one of the ones that really deserves to make the top 500 despite my personal preference. Certainly "Piano Man" is the most obvious choice from Billy Joel. And probably "Just The Way You Are". Then maybe "Allentown" or "Uptown Girl"? And his three #1 hits were It's Still Rock And Roll To Me, Tell Her About It, and We Didn't Start The Fire. Anyway this song is certainly one I would rank fairly high in the top 75 thus far. RATING: 4.5/5 My Current top 60+ List: 1. Time Of The Season-The Zombies 2. Rosalita-Bruce Springsteen 3. Help-Beatles 4. Lola-Kinks 5. California Dreamin-Mama's & Papa's 6. Loser-Beck 7. House Of The Rising Sun-The Animals 8. Free Bird-Lynyrd Skynyrd 9. White Rabbit-Jefferson Airplane 10. Criminal-Fiona Apple 11. Go Your Own Way-Fleetwood Mac 12. Don't Fear The Reaper-Blue Oyster Cult 13. You're So Vain - Carly Simon 14. Buddy Holly-Weezer 15. Father And Son-Cat Stevens 16. Surrender-Cheap Trick 17. Cannonball-Breeders 18. Gloris-Them 19. Peggy Sue-Buddy Holly 20. Ripple-Grateful Dead 21. Under The Bridge-Red Hot Chili Peppers 22. Up On A Roof-The Drifters 23. Under Pressure-Queen & David Bowie 24. Dreaming-Blondie 25. Just What I Needed-The Cars 26. Heartbreak Hotel-Elvis Presley 27. I'm A Believer-The Monkees 28. Papa Was A Rollin Stone-The Temptations 29. Scenes From An Italian Restaurant-Billy Joel 30. Help Me-Joni Mitchell 31. Get Lucky-Daft Punk ft. Pharell Williams 32. She's Gone-Hall & Oates 33. Heavy Metal Drummer-Wilco 34. Enter Sandman-Metallica 35. Hungry Like The Wolf -Duran Duran 36. Paranoid-Black Sabbath 37. Alive-Pearl Jam 38. Summertime Blues-Eddie Cochran 39. Green Onions-Booker T & the MG's 40. Everlong-Foo Fighters 41. 1999 (Prince) 42. Portions For Foxes (Rilo Kiley) 43. It's Too Late-Carole King 44. Allison-Elvis Costello 45. Summertime Sadness-Lana Del Rey 46. I Can't Help Myself-Four Tops 47. Move On Up-Curtis Mayfield 48. Oy Como Va-Santana 49. Baby Love - Supremes 50. Without You - Nilsson 51. Rapper's Delight-Sugarhill Gang 52. Fade Into You-Mazzy Star 53. Come As You Are-Nirvana 54. God Save The Queen-Sex Pistols 55. Da Doo Run Run-The Crystals 56. Merry Go Round-Kasey Musgraves 57. Little Red Corvette (Prince) 58. Black Hole Sun-Soundgarden 59. Bennie And The Jets-Elton John 60. Limelight-Rush 61. Passionate Kisses-Lucinda Williams 62. Our Lips Are Sealed-Go Go's 63. Crying-Roy Orbison 64. Midnight Train To Georgia-Gladys Knight & Pips 65. Sheena Is A Punk Rocker-Ramones 66. Promised Land-Chuck Berry 67. Because The Night-Patti Smith 68. Pictures Of You-The Cure 69. All I Ever Wanted-Depeche Mode 70. Brass In Pocket-Pretenders 71. Mr. Brightside-The Killers 72. Real Love-Mary J. Blige 73. Lust For Life-Iggy Pop 74. White Man In Hammersmith Palais-The Clash No more cuts until I reach 75 songs!
Scenes from an Italian Restaurant: I just got finished listening to one track that's 7:39 long, suggested in another thread, and here comes another one. Go figure. Neither were previously familiar, although unlike the other act, I had heard of Billy Joel before, in voluminous quantities. I own none of his LPs, but I've heard a bunch of his songs, possibly upwards of a dozen. This is a fairly clear Springsteen pastiche; the piano and the sax solo over the rock backing sort of give it away. That's not a knock, and the song must be judged on its own merits. It starts and ends slow, but the substantial midsection is uptempo; in other words, it's similar to Daphne (Laurel Tree) by Kayak but the opposite of Question by the Moody Blues. I can't say the music totally grabs me but I still think it's a good effort. Reading the lyrics, at first they appeared to be about a meeting (not necessarily clandestine) between two former partners who had moved on from each other, but then the fast section revved up and the reminiscing became about a couple named Brenda and Eddie, who were always together, got married, started fighting, and ended up divorcing, all within not much more time than the song took to complete. At least they stayed "the closest of friends", which unfortunately not everyone manages. I can think of a girlfriend or three with whom I might have ended up in the same circumstances, had the relationship continued ... Anyway, I like the song but not enough to be enthusiastic about it. The lyrics cover a decent amount of ground, including some imagery, but aren't really very deep. They do match the music well enough, which is listenable at all times. There's probably less to quibble about regarding the song's inclusion in the top 500 than in most of these entries, too. On a pass / fail basis, an easy "pass".
"Scenes from an Italian Restaurant" As of early 1977, Billy Joel had been mostly a noble failure. His four albums by then were at best moderately succesful and at worst outright flops. Turnstiles, the most recent LP, did worse than any since his debut, Cold Spring Harbor; it peaked at only #120 and the two singles Columbia pulled from it were poorly chosen: On an album with "Miami 2017 (Seen the Lights Go Out on Broadway)," "New York State of Mind," and "Say Goodbye to Hollywood," Columbia selected "James" and "I've Loved These Days" as single A-sides, and neither one charted in any of the U.S. trade magazines. Indeed, there was discussion that, if Joel's next album wasn't a significant sales improvement, he might be dropped by the label. Joel was allowed to use his touring band in the studio for the first time, and he also was able to choose a producer: Phil Ramone, whose name he saw in the credits of other albums he liked. With sympathetic production, a powerhouse band, and a good collection of songs (one of which dated from 1971 but hadn't been recorded before), the resulting album, The Stranger, became Joel's breakthrough. Only the juggernaut that was the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack kept it from hitting #1. And to think Columbia almost blew it again! The first single from the album was "Movin' Out (Anthony's Song)," which was en route to becoming another flop (#109 Cash Box, #124 Record World) before Columbia pulled it and quickly released "Just the Way You Are" instead. That ballad became Joel's first U.S. Top 10 hit (#2 Cash Box and Radio & Records, #3 Billboard and Record World), and he never had to look back again. In the U.S., four different songs from The Stranger were single A-sides. After "Just the Way You Are," Columbia followed with a reissue of "Movin' Out" (the country was ready this time); "Only the Good Die Young"; and "She's Always a Woman." Outside the States, two other songs were singles: "The Stranger" (Netherlands, Japan, Australia, New Zealand) and "Everybody Has a Dream" (Netherlands). Because of its length, and because it would not have been an easy song to edit, "Scenes from an Italian Restaurant" was not released as a single anywhere in the world. In the U.S., it became a popular FM radio album cut, in part because it was most likely never going to be a single. It remains one to this day. --- For a long time, many listeners and Billy Joel fans wondered which Italian restaurant inspired the song. In a 1977 concert at C.W. Post College, before the song had been released, Joel dedicated it to Christiano's, a restaurant in Syosset, Lomg Island. But he later revealed that the Manhattan restaurant Fontana di Trevi, near Carnegie Hall, was on his mind when he wrote the song. The line "A bottle of red, a bottle of white, whatever kind of mood you're in tonight" was actually a verbatim quote from a waiter when Joel was ordering dinner. He also noted that the scene is a composite of several Italian restaurants, but Fontana di Trevi was the primary inspiration. In January 2017, during an interview on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Joel noted that "Scenes from an Italian Restaurant" was his favorite of his songs. Later in the same interview, as part of a skit, Colbert jokingly said that "a bottle of red" was ketchup, "a bottle of white" was horseradish, and the "Italian restaurant" was an Arby's. --- I bought The Stranger in early 1978, when the only hit was "Just the Way You Are." A girl I had a crush on was a big fan, so I got the album. Of course, I didn't get the girl, but I still have the album all these decades later. It's an album I played a lot. Indeed, I got every future Billy Joel album that was released on record in the U.S. not long after it came out, and I eventually got the earlier ones, too, even an original Family Productions copy of Cold Spring Harbor. With every Joel album from 1971 to 1989 in my collection, you'd think that my A Few of My Favorite Things series would be filled with his music. But it really isn't. Many of the hits I can no longer stand; some of them got old really quickly. Probably my favorite song of his is "A Matter of Trust" from 1986. Some of his others I've used are "Captain Jack," "All for Leyna," the live "She's Got a Way," "Allentown," "This Is the Time," "The Downeaster 'Alexa'" -- all singles except for "Jack" and "Leyna" (though the latter was a single in some countries outside the U.S.), but not among his biggest hits. So where does "Scenes" fit in? I vaguely remember that when I first played it back in 1978, I kept waiting for it to end. And, not being a Lawn Guylander, the "Brender 'n' Eddie" pronunciation bothered me. Today, I can tolerate it, but I think it's been, and still is, overrated in Joel's catalog. I have a feeling that, as we get higher up thr chart, I'll be using that word more often -- overrated.
Phew! Finally caught up reading and listening from the start. I’m pretty open to all music and always looking for new songs to be obsessed about, but haven’t really listened to much radio since around 2008. I started reading this thread in the hope that I would uncover a bunch of blind spots and find some new favourites. Luckily, that is totally the case! There have already been a bunch of “Songs I Didn’t Know Well, but Now I Love Them” on this list. I’ll respond to the latest song and add a comment about one or two of these songs as we go—hopefully, I’ll catch up to the “present” of the thread quickly enough. Of course, some of the songs I didn’t know ended up in an “inoffensive” category—I wouldn’t skip them, but won’t add them to a playlist—and one song so far ended up in “offended my ears” category. 324. Scenes From an Italian Restaurant (Billy Joel). Although I’ve heard this before, I haven’t listened to it much or with any particular attention. I have always liked “mini-suite” songs that move through several distinct sections, with some linking thematic material. I do think the slow piano section has the strongest melody of all. The mini solos scattered throughout are fine and the piano solo is actually quite interesting. The longest, middle section (The Ballad of Brenda and Eddie?) is my least favourite part, however. It sounds to me like drums, bass, piano and at least some of the vocals were a single take (but would be interested to know from those who know—google didn’t help me much). It sounds like whole piece was recorded with one backing track, rather than editing together multiple segments. On the whole, it falls somewhere between “Songs I Didn’t Know Well, but Now I Love Them” and “Inoffensive”. Songs I Didn’t Know Well, but Now I Love Them: 500. Stronger (Kanye West). Great use of Daft Punk samples. Fantastic groove with a tight flow. Love the multitracked vocal in the chorus. This song makes me want to move. Maybe a minute or two too long. Also made me go and listen to the Daft Punk original (which is actually quite different and faster, ironically). Two great songs I didn’t know very well for the price of one! 497. Truth Hurts (Lizzo). Like this beat a lot too. There are many great hooks spread throughout the song. The piano bass line really works as a foundation to the song. It is really interesting how minimal some songs are these days (if vocals and drums/percussion were removed, there would be almost nothing there). And by “these days”, I mean 2017 (eek)? 487. Cranes in the Sky (Solange). This grew on me. Great singing and a nice soundscape for the song—sounds like Homogenic-era Bjork. The strings (? or similar sound) is a nice bed for the track to sit in. I would like the song better if it had more than one section or had some kind of direction. 485. 212 (Azealia Banks). This surprised me. Love it. Gotta be the most vulgar song on this list! Can’t listen to this in front of the kids. The multiple sections fit together well, while still surprising each time they come around. I like the synth that gets progressively louder until it’s obnoxious. I would enjoy this at the club—except I’m far too old for that ****. 476. Sunday Mornin’ Comin’ Down (Kris Kristofferson). Now THAT’s some nice reverb on the vocals. The song takes off nicely with the multitracked vocals on the chorus. Just sneaks in slightly better than inoffensive. Tasteful? 464. Help Me (Joni Mitchell). I have definitely heard this song before, but never really listened to it. Great melody, from the opening “Help me, I think I’m fallin’…” hook through to the “makin’ me feel good” backing vocals all the way to the excellent electric guitar work on the outro. It has a nice laid-back groove to it and a great middle 8 too! The flutes date the production a bit, but it’s pleasant to hear such a well-recorded and well-produced track. Who’s the drummer? Love it! Inoffensive 498. Pancho and Lefty (Townes van Zandt). Seems like a minor work. There are a few melodic moments I enjoy. Inoffensive. 488. House of Balloons (The Weeknd). While I like the atmosphere of the song/backing track, not sure much other than the groove grabs me. Inoffensive. 479. Oye Como Va (Santana). Heard it before, I’m sure—I know the melody well. Great groove and I like the congas loud in the mix. I prefer the organ solo to the guitar (which seems a bit sloppy timing-wise in a few spots). I like the guitar tone, though. Inoffensive. 478. Back that Azz Up (Juvenile). Great intro and I like the groove, but I lost interest around a minute and half in. Inoffensive (except for damn Lil Wayne’s verse—get on the beat, dude!) 466. Never Too Much (Luther Vandross). This is a nice performance—the band is tight. The production seems very “Off The Wall/Thriller”. I like the backing vocals “nevertoomuchnevertoomuchnevertoomuch”, but otherwise, the melody just isn’t very interesting. I need more earworms! Inoffensive. Offended My Ears 486. A Milli (Lil Wayne). Perhaps aiming for hypnotic, but the flow isn’t quite tight enough for that. I need more (some!) melody—even the damn synth bass is the same note throughout. Offended my ears.
323. Everly Brothers, 'All I Have to Do Is Dream' 1958 WRITER(S):Boudleaux Bryant, Felice Bryant Although Don Everly had a contract to work as a songwriter before he and his brother Phil began their hitmaking, their first three big singles were all written by the husband-and-wife songwriting team of Boudleaux and Felice Bryant. “I would go to them for lovelorn advice when I was young, and divorce advice when I was older,” Phil said. “All I Have to Do Is Dream,” with Chet Atkins’ innovative tremolo chording backing the brothers’ high-lonesome harmonies, went to Number One on not just the pop chart, but the R&B chart as well.
Billy Joel - "Scenes from an Italian Restaurant": Sorry, Joel is simply not for me. Never heard a song of his that I even remotely liked and this is no exception. But I guess he deserves to be on the list given his long career and immense popularity Everly Brothers - "All I Have to Do is Dream" Now this is more to my liking. Not sure if we see them again, but there are several songs performed by them I like even more. The Brothers in their prime were just amazing.
Phil and Don are always lovely and the Bryant’s wrote good tunes for them. This is certainly a candidate for my own list, if not a shoe in because of all the other fine work they did together
All I Have To Do Is Dream (Everly Brothers) With their great and influential harmonies, the Everly Brothers certainly deserve a song or two in the top 500. My top choice would be "Bye Bye Love", but this nice ballad would be a contender for my 2nd choice along with "Wake Up Little Susie" and "Devoted To You". RATING: 4/5 My Current top 75 List: 1. Time Of The Season-The Zombies 2. Rosalita-Bruce Springsteen 3. Help-Beatles 4. Lola-Kinks 5. California Dreamin-Mama's & Papa's 6. Loser-Beck 7. House Of The Rising Sun-The Animals 8. Free Bird-Lynyrd Skynyrd 9. White Rabbit-Jefferson Airplane 10. Criminal-Fiona Apple 11. Go Your Own Way-Fleetwood Mac 12. Don't Fear The Reaper-Blue Oyster Cult 13. You're So Vain - Carly Simon 14. Buddy Holly-Weezer 15. Father And Son-Cat Stevens 16. Surrender-Cheap Trick 17. Cannonball-Breeders 18. Gloris-Them 19. Peggy Sue-Buddy Holly 20. Ripple-Grateful Dead 21. Under The Bridge-Red Hot Chili Peppers 22. Up On A Roof-The Drifters 23. Under Pressure-Queen & David Bowie 24. Dreaming-Blondie 25. Just What I Needed-The Cars 26. Heartbreak Hotel-Elvis Presley 27. I'm A Believer-The Monkees 28. Papa Was A Rollin Stone-The Temptations 29. Scenes From An Italian Restaurant-Billy Joel 30. Help Me-Joni Mitchell 31. Get Lucky-Daft Punk ft. Pharell Williams 32. She's Gone-Hall & Oates 33. Heavy Metal Drummer-Wilco 34. Enter Sandman-Metallica 35. Hungry Like The Wolf -Duran Duran 36. Paranoid-Black Sabbath 37. Alive-Pearl Jam 38. Summertime Blues-Eddie Cochran 39. Green Onions-Booker T & the MG's 40. Everlong-Foo Fighters 41. 1999-Prince 42. All I Have To Do Is Dream-Everly Brothers 43. Portions For Foxes-Rilo Kiley 44. It's Too Late-Carole King 45. Allison-Elvis Costello 46. Summertime Sadness-Lana Del Rey 47. I Can't Help Myself-Four Tops 48. Move On Up-Curtis Mayfield 49. Oy Como Va-Santana 50. Baby Love - Supremes 51. Without You - Nilsson 52. Rapper's Delight-Sugarhill Gang 53. Fade Into You-Mazzy Star 54. Come As You Are-Nirvana 55. God Save The Queen-Sex Pistols 56. Da Doo Run Run-The Crystals 57. Merry Go Round-Kasey Musgraves 58. Little Red Corvette-Prince 59. Black Hole Sun-Soundgarden 60. Bennie And The Jets-Elton John 61. Limelight-Rush 62. Passionate Kisses-Lucinda Williams 63. Our Lips Are Sealed-Go Go's 64. Crying-Roy Orbison 65. Midnight Train To Georgia-Gladys Knight & Pips 66. Sheena Is A Punk Rocker-Ramones 67. Promised Land-Chuck Berry 68. Because The Night-Patti Smith 69. Pictures Of You-The Cure 70. All I Ever Wanted-Depeche Mode 71. Brass In Pocket-Pretenders 72. Mr. Brightside-The Killers 73. Real Love-Mary J. Blige 74. Lust For Life-Iggy Pop 75. White Man In Hammersmith Palais-The Clash
#328 Red Hot Chili Peppers - Under the Bridge Poignant, elegiac. Not my favourite Peppers song but I can understand it being chosen. Not helped by the fact All Saints covered it (insipidly) later in the decade and that is the version I was first introduced to. #327 Mary J Blige - Real Love Said best here: #326 Rilo Kiley - Portions for Foxes Who?! Completely unknown to the UK charts. Maybe it is the tone of the singer, but this sounds as absolutely generic indie-pop as it gets. Could have been released by any number of bands. It's not a poor song per se, catchy enough sure, but a very uninspiring choice. #325 Iggy Pop - Lust for Life Iconic bouncing intro and pulsating beat. The influence on Jet's Are You Gonna Be My Girl is obvious, among others, although I didn't see the parallels with The Supremes' You Can't Hurry Love until @tim_neely pointed it out, and that's a great song! Lust for Life is a fine song, it sounds much younger than 1977. #324 Billy Joel - Scenes from an Italian Restaurant Joel is way off my radar. The sole song I own is the powerful Goodnight Saigon, and the only others that I could name are the more frivolous Uptown Girl and We Didn't Start the Fire. Looking at his hits, there are a few others I recognise though. This song seems reasonable, perhaps a little too Broadway for my tastes. #323 Everly Brothers - All I Have to Do is Dream Can't knock this sentimental old-timer. Wake Up Little Susie would be my choice, albeit I don't know their discography extensively. Lust for Life enters my Top 30 with Rush's Limelight dropping out, and a minor reshuffle of the lower order as Rosalita was sitting slightly too high.
All I Have to Do is Dream: The Everly Brothers, and '50s rock / pop in general, were a little before my time: I was three years old when it came out in 1958, although I do have some musical recollection from that year (specifically Baubles, Bangles and Beads by the Kirby Stone Four). My general opinion of that inchoate musical decade is that the rockin' was too hard for my likin' and the poppin' was too soft. Nevertheless I have a few favourites. This particular song has never been one, however I gave it (yet) another listen and it comes across very well. It's not "too soft", it's tastefully arranged and performed throughout and those little guitar chords in the background add some sophistication. So yeah, it's a fine effort from the now both sadly departed Everlys, and I ought to rethink my broader '50s favourites list to find a place for it.
"All I Have to Do Is Dream" Most of the time, the husband-and-wife songwriting team of Felice and Boudleaux Bryant wrote together. But this was Boudleaux's alone; he considered it autobiographical, a tribute to Felice. The two married in 1945 only five days after they met, and they stayed together until Boudleaux passed away in 1987. They had been writing for the Nashville publishing house Acuff-Rose for almost a decade when they were teamed with the Everly Brothers. The first song of the Bryants the brothers recorded was "Bye Bye Love," and it was a huge hit, peaking at #1 in Cash Box and Music Vendor and #2 in Billboard. "Wake Up Little Susie" followed; it, too, hit #1, this time in all three trade papers. Their third single on Cadence, the Ray Charles cover "This Little Girl of Mine," was not as successful. "All I Have to Do Is Dream" was recorded at RCA's Studio B in Nashville in two takes on March 6, 1958. When it was released a month later, it rocketed up the charts. In Billboard, it debuted at #9 on the 50-position Best Sellers in Stores chart on April 28, 1958 and was #1 two more weeks later. It entered the Top 100 at #69 a week earlier, then rocketed to #7 and, in its fifth week, hit the top. On both charts, it knocked the David Seville novelty "Witch Doctor" off the top. On the Most Played by Jockeys chart, it hit #1 also, but by dethroning "Twilight Time" by the Platters. The song also hit #1 in both Music Vendor and Cash Box. I don't have any further breakdown for the former, but in Cash Box, "All I Have to Do Is Dream" also topped all three of its pop charts -- "The Records Disc Jockeys Played Most," "The Nation's Top Ten Jukebox Tunes," and "Top 60 Best Selling Tunes on Records." The song also was a significant crossover smash, as it became one of the very few records to top the Billboard country and R&B charts as well as the pop charts. "All I Have to Do Is Dream" hit #1 on every singles chart the magazine had at the time, seven in all; it peaked there on the country sales and airplay charts, and on the R&B sales and airplay charts. On the genre charts in Cash Box, it got to #1 on all three of its country charts: sales, jukebox and disc jockey. The magazine had only one R&B chart, and on that, the song peaked at #3; it couldn't get past "Johnny B. Goode" by Chuck Berry or "Looking Back" by Nat King Cole. When the Everly Brothers moved to Warner Bros. in 1960, Cadence regularly reissued older material to compete. Usually, the older material were outtakes or album cuts, but in July 1961, "All I Have to Do Is Dream" started receiving unsolicited new airplay in Cleveland. As a result, Cadence released it on its Cadence Gold Record Series (catalog # 1604) with "Bird Dog" on the other side. Most sources claim this was released in November 1961, but it was listed in a Cadence Records ad in the July 24, 1961 Cash Box. Because it was re-promoted to radio, a white-label promo exists for this record. As a result, "All I Have to Do Is Dream" briefly returned to the pop charts in July and August 1961, peaking at #96 in Billboard, #119 in Music Vendor, and #133 in Cash Box. Over the years, four covers of the song have made the Hot 100, the biggest by Richard Chamberlain. (The others were by Glen Campbell and Bobbie Gentry; the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band; and Andy Gibb & Victoria Principal.) And the Everly Brothers re-recorded it for Warner Bros. on The Very Best of the Everly Brothers; this version was released on 45 on a Back to Back Hits single (# 7121). But none has eclipsed the Everly Brothers' original. --- I wrote this about "I'm a Believer" earlier, but I also feel as if "All I Have to Do Is Dream" is embedded in my DNA. I'm not old enough to have heard this in the 1950s, but I certainly heard it in the 1960s. When I started collecting records in 1973, I found a copy of this one fairly early; I think it was the first 45 I owned on the Cadence label, which I thought was pretty cool with the metronome on top. I've got a few Everly Brothers songs in my Favorite Things series -- "Bye Bye Love," "('Til) I Kissed You," "Let It Be Me," "Cathy's Clown," and "Crying in the Rain" for sure. In yet another case of shortchanging the 1950s, I don't think I've used "All I Have to Do Is Dream"! Well, I'll have to rectify that post haste if I discover that I haven't used it. This is a great song!
322. Neil Young, 'After the Gold Rush' 1970 WRITER(S):Neil Young Written in about a half hour and recorded in his basement in Topanga Canyon, California, this sci-fi piano ballad — just Young accompanied by a forlorn French horn — is an ecological plea inspired by his friend Dean Stockwell’s idea for a movie about a natural disaster that destroys California. The movie never got made, but the song immediately touched a nerve. As Randy Newman admiringly noted, “‘After the Gold Rush’ is sort of a primal urge for a simpler, better time — which may have never existed, but Neil thinks it does.”
After The Gold Rush (Neil Young) Neil Young had so many great songs it is kind of hard to say how many I would put in my top 500 and if I had to limit it which ones I would pick. Based on Young having several albums in the top 500, I suspect there may be more Young to come in this singles countdown. I would probably pick Southern Man and Heart Of Gold if limited to just two (plus CSNY "Ohio") but others that rate highly include Sugar Mountain, Like A Hurricane, Hey Hey My My (Into The Black), Old Man, Cinnamon Girl, plus the Crosby-Nah Long May You Run. In any case, After The Gold Rush is certainly a good and distinctive song. Simple, but inspiring. Deserving of a spot in my top 75. RATING: 4/5 My Current top 75 List: 1. Time Of The Season-The Zombies 2. Rosalita-Bruce Springsteen 3. Help-Beatles 4. Lola-Kinks 5. California Dreamin-Mama's & Papa's 6. Loser-Beck 7. House Of The Rising Sun-The Animals 8. Free Bird-Lynyrd Skynyrd 9. White Rabbit-Jefferson Airplane 10. Criminal-Fiona Apple 11. Go Your Own Way-Fleetwood Mac 12. Don't Fear The Reaper-Blue Oyster Cult 13. You're So Vain - Carly Simon 14. Buddy Holly-Weezer 15. Father And Son-Cat Stevens 16. Surrender-Cheap Trick 17. Cannonball-Breeders 18. Gloris-Them 19. Peggy Sue-Buddy Holly 20. Ripple-Grateful Dead 21. Under The Bridge-Red Hot Chili Peppers 22. Up On A Roof-The Drifters 23. Under Pressure-Queen & David Bowie 24. Dreaming-Blondie 25. Just What I Needed-The Cars 26. Heartbreak Hotel-Elvis Presley 27. I'm A Believer-The Monkees 28. Papa Was A Rollin Stone-The Temptations 29. Scenes From An Italian Restaurant-Billy Joel 30. Help Me-Joni Mitchell 31. Get Lucky-Daft Punk ft. Pharell Williams 32. After The Gold Rush-Neil Young 33. She's Gone-Hall & Oates 34. Heavy Metal Drummer-Wilco 35. Enter Sandman-Metallica 36. Hungry Like The Wolf -Duran Duran 37. Paranoid-Black Sabbath 38. Alive-Pearl Jam 39. Summertime Blues-Eddie Cochran 40. Green Onions-Booker T & the MG's 41. Everlong-Foo Fighters 42. 1999-Prince 43. All I Have To Do Is Dream-Everly Brothers 44. Portions For Foxes-Rilo Kiley 45. It's Too Late-Carole King 46. Allison-Elvis Costello 47. Summertime Sadness-Lana Del Rey 48. I Can't Help Myself-Four Tops 49. Move On Up-Curtis Mayfield 50. Oy Como Va-Santana 51. Baby Love - Supremes 52. Without You - Nilsson 53. Rapper's Delight-Sugarhill Gang 54. Fade Into You-Mazzy Star 55. Come As You Are-Nirvana 56. God Save The Queen-Sex Pistols 57. Da Doo Run Run-The Crystals 58. Merry Go Round-Kasey Musgraves 59. Little Red Corvette-Prince 60. Black Hole Sun-Soundgarden 61. Bennie And The Jets-Elton John 62. Limelight-Rush 63. Passionate Kisses-Lucinda Williams 64. Our Lips Are Sealed-Go Go's 65. Crying-Roy Orbison 66. Midnight Train To Georgia-Gladys Knight & Pips 67. Sheena Is A Punk Rocker-Ramones 68. Promised Land-Chuck Berry 69. Because The Night-Patti Smith 70. Pictures Of You-The Cure 71. All I Ever Wanted-Depeche Mode 72. Brass In Pocket-Pretenders 73. Mr. Brightside-The Killers 74. Real Love-Mary J. Blige 75. Lust For Life-Iggy Pop Goodbye to White Man In Hammersmith Palais by The Clash. This group may return if some different song(s) are in this top 500
Neil Young - "After the Gold Rush" I love Neil and several of his songs would easily make my list, but not this one. It's still a great song (after all it's Neil), but the lyrics are just too hippy-ish and make me cringe. There are several songs on the album that I like better (let alone dozens of songs from other albums). Not sure exactly why this one was chosen.
"After the Gold Rush" In the wake of the first (and last for 18 years) studio album by the expanded Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, each of the four members recorded and released an acclaimed solo LP. In the case of Neil Young, the immediate post-CSNY album was After the Gold Rush. The first preview from the album was a Young-Crazy Horse version of the Don Gibson classic "Oh Lonesome Me," which was released as a single in February 1970 and didn't chart. Originally a stand-alone, the track was included on After the Gold Rush when it was released that September. "Only Love Can Break Your Heart" was released as a single from ATGR in October 1970 and became Young's first Top 40 hit as a solo artist. The three U.S. trade magazines had a wide disparity in chart positions; it got to only #33 in Billboard, but peaked at #20 in Cash Box and #14 in Record World. A second, or third depending on how you count, single came out in early 1971, "When You Dance I Can Really Love," which was nowhere near as successful (#59 RW, #93 BB, #93 CB). "After the Gold Rush" was not generally released as a single. At the time the album was popular, it was released only in Greece thus: In 1974, British vocal group Prelude recorded an a cappella version of the song, entitled "After the Goldrush" on the 45 label, and it became a surprise hit in the UK (#21) and the USA (#12 Record World, #17 Cash Box, #22 Billboard). The studio version contains a lyrical error, as they sang "Look at Mother Nature on the run in the 1917" rather than "1970s", but regardless, it's a gorgeous version, so I'll post it here: In the wake of the Prelude version, WEA in West Germany released Young's original version as a single in 1974: That was the last time anyone released Young's version as a 45 until decades later. The German version of the November 2020 issue of Rolling Stone magazine contained a small-hole 7-inch of "After the Gold Rush" backed with "Homegrown": Because of its limited single release history, Young's version of "After the Gold Rush" did not chart anywhere. --- In more recent years, Young has said that "After the Gold Rush" was a song for a soundtrack from an unproduced script (now lost) by Dean Stockwell and Herb Bermann for a film of the same name. Earlier, Dolly Parton, Linda Ronstadt, and Emmylou Harris recorded a cover of the song for Trio II in 1999. In the notes on the album from Harris' web site, Parton suggested that they record the song, and Ronstadt arranged it. Parton explained, "'After the Gold Rush' happens to be one of my favorite songs of all time. So I took it to the Trio project. I loved the song on Neil Young's [1970] album and I loved it when Prelude had it out in 1974. But I didn't know what the song meant. Linda and Emmy knew Neil, so we called him and asked him. He said, 'I have no idea.' I thought that was so funny. I think it's about the Second Coming or the invasion of aliens, or both." --- Once I started collecting 45s, even if I wasn't with them, my parents, especially my dad, always kept an eye out for cheap 45s at garage sales. One day, probably in 1977, and I'm pretty sure it was a weekday, they came home with a paper grocery bag filled with 45s. The singles ranged in age from the mid-1960s to the mid-1970s. One of the 45s in this bag was "After the Goldrush" by Prelude. The Island label looked interesting, so I played it, thinking I didn't know it. I recognized it immediately. I had heard it on the radio in late 1974 but had no earthly idea what it was, because it never made the WFIL charts and I had not yet discovered American Top 40. Had that 45 not shown up at that time, I might have ended up posting it in one of those "Songs you heard long ago but needed years to find out what it was" threads. I did not hear Neil Young's version until I was in college and a friend played either the After the Gold Rush or Decade album, neither of which I owned at the time. It took me years to appreciate his version. Way back when I began the project in 2002, I included "After the Goldrush" by Prelude on A Few of My Favorite Things, Volume 4 (track 12). I still prefer it to Young's original. But unlike a couple of earlier entries, I don't think Rolling Stone got it wrong. I recently retrieved my Classic Records copy of Neil Young's Greatest Hits and have needledropped several songs I've not yet included for future volumes of my Favorite Things series. They are "Ohio" by Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young; "Heart of Gold"; and -- "After the Gold Rush." There are a few songs represented on A Few of My Favorite Things by two versions. This is not an all-inclusive list, but off the top of my head, some of them are "Here Comes the Sun," "City of New Orleans," "Always on My Mind," and "Venus." At some point in the near future, "After the Gold Rush" will be another.
After the Gold Rush: A decent song; the piano playing is pleasant and competent and the lyrics aren't just moon-June-spoon. But the LP of the same name contains eleven tracks, and I like nine or ten of them better than the titular one, which doesn't bear repeated listening in my opinion. All in all a great album by the way!
321. U2, 'I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For' 1987 WRITER(S):Bono, Larry Mullen Jr., the Edge, Adam Clayton “The music that really turns me on is either running toward God or away from God,” Bono told Rolling Stone. U2’s second Number One single revels in ambivalence — “an anthem of doubt more than faith,” Bono has called it. The song was typical of the arduous sessions for The Joshua Tree: Originally called “Under the Weather,” it began, like most U2 songs, as a jam. “It sounded to me a little like ‘Eye of the Tiger’ played by a reggae band,” the Edge recalled.
I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For (U2) This may not be my favorite U2 song, but it is probably their best and the best choice for this countdown. I like this song a lot and would put it in my top 500 with at least "Sunday Bloody Sunday", if I am limiting the number of songs per artist. One, With Or Without You, Where The Streets Have No Name, Pride In The Name Of Love, New Years Day, In Gods Country, Bullet The Blue Sky, I Will Follow, Mysterious Ways, and Desire would all be songs I would consider as well. RATING: 4.5/5 Bad Bunny and "Big Poppa" aside, I'm finding more songs to add to my list than I have albums recently! My Current top 75 List: 1. Time Of The Season-The Zombies 2. Rosalita-Bruce Springsteen 3. Help-Beatles 4. Lola-Kinks 5. California Dreamin-Mama's & Papa's 6. Loser-Beck 7. House Of The Rising Sun-The Animals 8. Free Bird-Lynyrd Skynyrd 9. I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For-U2 10. White Rabbit-Jefferson Airplane 11. Criminal-Fiona Apple 12. Go Your Own Way-Fleetwood Mac 13. Don't Fear The Reaper-Blue Oyster Cult 14. You're So Vain - Carly Simon 15. Buddy Holly-Weezer 16. Father And Son-Cat Stevens 17. Surrender-Cheap Trick 18. Cannonball-Breeders 19. Gloris-Them 20. Peggy Sue-Buddy Holly 21. Ripple-Grateful Dead 22. Under The Bridge-Red Hot Chili Peppers 23. Up On A Roof-The Drifters 24. Under Pressure-Queen & David Bowie 25. Dreaming-Blondie 26. Just What I Needed-The Cars 27. Heartbreak Hotel-Elvis Presley 28. I'm A Believer-The Monkees 28. Papa Was A Rollin Stone-The Temptations 30. Scenes From An Italian Restaurant-Billy Joel 31. Help Me-Joni Mitchell 32. Get Lucky-Daft Punk ft. Pharell Williams 33. After The Gold Rush-Neil Young 34. She's Gone-Hall & Oates 35. Heavy Metal Drummer-Wilco 36. Enter Sandman-Metallica 37. Hungry Like The Wolf -Duran Duran 38. Paranoid-Black Sabbath 39. Alive-Pearl Jam 40. Summertime Blues-Eddie Cochran 41. Green Onions-Booker T & the MG's 42. Everlong-Foo Fighters 43. 1999-Prince 44. All I Have To Do Is Dream-Everly Brothers 45. Portions For Foxes-Rilo Kiley 46. It's Too Late-Carole King 47. Allison-Elvis Costello 48. Summertime Sadness-Lana Del Rey 49. I Can't Help Myself-Four Tops 50. Move On Up-Curtis Mayfield 51. Oy Como Va-Santana 52. Baby Love - Supremes 53. Without You - Nilsson 54. Rapper's Delight-Sugarhill Gang 55. Fade Into You-Mazzy Star 56. Come As You Are-Nirvana 57. God Save The Queen-Sex Pistols 58. Da Doo Run Run-The Crystals 59. Merry Go Round-Kasey Musgraves 60. Little Red Corvette-Prince 61. Black Hole Sun-Soundgarden 62. Bennie And The Jets-Elton John 63. Limelight-Rush 64. Passionate Kisses-Lucinda Williams 65. Our Lips Are Sealed-Go Go's 66. Crying-Roy Orbison 67. Midnight Train To Georgia-Gladys Knight & Pips 68. Sheena Is A Punk Rocker-Ramones 69. Promised Land-Chuck Berry 70. Because The Night-Patti Smith 71. Pictures Of You-The Cure 72. All I Ever Wanted-Depeche Mode 73. Brass In Pocket-Pretenders 74. Mr. Brightside-The Killers 75. Real Love-Mary J. Blige Goodbye to Lust For Life. Iggy Pop may return with the Stooges if certain songs are included later!
Have to admit, I mostly find U2 tedious and uninteresting. This isn't a bad song but I don't really care if I ever hear it again either. Bono comparing its beginnings to "Eye of The Tiger" sort of sums it up nicely.
U2 - 'I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For' Not a big U2 fan. I liked the early albums, so "I Will Follow", "Sunday Bloody Sunday" and "New Year's Day" would all be contenders for my personal list. Of somewhat later songs, I might consider "Until the End of the World", but not much else.
