Merci Québec

A little shout out to “La Belle Province”.  Québec has a unique culture within Canada and a robust francophone music scene.   The province has also certainly contributed significantly to the overall Canadian music scene.  So, I hunted out a few artists who are Québecois or started out in Québec, …

Montrose – Montrose

This is just a good ol’ fashioned fun hard rock album.  No deep themes, wizards, nor mystics; just great rock.  Time to put the album on & let yourself rock out a tad. Ronnie Montrose had been a successful session musician, playing on Van Morisson’s 1971 album Tupelo Honey.  He …

Pretenders – Pretenders

This is so Precious. That’s the song; that’s the album summed up for me.  There is something about the whole package: the snark of the lyrics, Chrissie Hynde’s perfect voice & the music that just fits. This song sums up the attitudes of the times then, and pretty much now. …

It Started With Janis

I started to build a playlist of bands with female lead singers that were in the Janis Joplin vein.  As usual, I cruised through my library, adding artists that were in that vein or close.  Then I got distracted by songs I like that really weren’t in that category.  I …

Blue Öyster Cult – Secret Treaties

I first heard Blue Öyster Cult on their 1973 album Tyranny and Mutation.  It pretty much rocked out, and with titles like “7 Screaming Diz-Busters” and a guitarist named Buck Dharma, how could you go wrong?  Blue Öyster Cult (BOC) has always marched to their own beat, with a sly …

Getting Past the Top 40

I understand that classic rock stations tend to play a certain set of songs from the classic bands as they need to play to the broadest spectrum of listeners.  Many stations often have “deep dive” shows where they get into areas of the artists’ catalogues that are not normally heard …

Pink Floyd – Wish You Were Here

I wanted to keep the general atmospheric mood in play that resulted in Tangerine Dream (corresponding post here), so I kept that in mind as I re-scrolled through the Album View.  I hit Pink Floyd, and “Welcome to the Machine” fit the bill!   Wish You Were Here was the …

Tangerine Dream – Soundtrack to Sorcerer

When thinking about what album to focus on, I was in more of an atmospheric mood, so I started going through the albums I have that are more ethereal and electronic in nature.  I set my library on Album View mode and started scrolling through.  I was going to let …