My Top Songs of All Time 1026-1050

1026 Gudby to Jane                                       Slade
1027 Band of Gold                                         Freda Payne
1028 My Name Is.....                                     Eminem
1029 Machine Head                                       Bush
1030 Baba O'Reilly                                        Who
1031 Come on Down to My Boat                   Every Mothers Son
1032 Good Thing                                            Paul Revere and the Raiders
1033 Sweet Caroline                                       Neil Diamond
1034 Hot in Here                                           Nellie
1035 Eight Days a Week                                Beatles
1036 Mexico                                                 James Taylor
1037 Opportunities                                        Pet Shop Boys
1038 Walk Away from Love                         David Ruffin
1039 I Am I Said                                          Neil Diamond
1040 Home At Last                                      Steely Dan
1041 Opus 17                                               Four Seasons
1042 I Saw Her Again                                  The Mamas and the Papas
1043 Hotel California                                    Eagles
1044 New York New York                         Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five
1045 Stop                                                     Moody Blues
1046 Never Gonna Give You Up                   Rick Astley
1047 Ohio                                                     Crosby Stills Nash & Young
1048 King for a Day                                      Thompson Twins
1049 The Other Woman                                Ray Parker Jr. and Raydio
1050 I Can See for Miles                              Who

This is the first entry for my favorite band of all time--Steely Dan--who has an incredible 30 songs in my countdown--far more than any other musical act. I consider Donald Fagen a musical genius and saw him recently in NYC where Steely Dan was as good as ever. Home at Last is from their CD Aja--which is one of my favorite Steely Dan CDs.

I loved Paul Revere and the Raiders since the mid-1960s was on the TV every day. Good Thing is the first of four from this band in the countdown. The band is still on tour today with the legendary Paul Revere still the frontman--two other Raiders have been in the band for over 30 years. Mark Lindsey, original lead singer is still alive and well.

Many think of Every Mothers Son as a one hit wonder with their #6 smash  in 1967 Come On Down to My Boat. However they did have 5 other songs which quickly hit the top 100. However the band was done in 1968. The band was led by the Larden Brothers out of New York City and Dennios Larden went on to play with Ricky Nelson's Stone Canyon Band.

Who can forget Rick Astley's famous video of Never Gonna Give You Up.....or the parody of the video--very funny.

The Pet Shop Boys and the Thompson Twins were two of my favorite bands to come out of the 1980s.and this represents the first of 4 songs in my countdown for the Pet Shop Boys led by the very talented and innovative Neil Tennant and the first of five by the Thompson Twins led by Tom Bailey.

Two T206 Pop1s with None Higher

My Top Songs of All Time 1051-1075

1051 Think                                         Aretha Franklin
1052 On the Wings of Love                Jeffrey Osborne
1053 Baby It's You                            Smith
1054 Keep on Dancin'                        Gentrys
1055 Woodstock                                Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young
1056 Jean Genie                                  David Bowie
1057 Praise You                                  Fatboy Slim
1058 Why Can't We Be Friends          War
1059 Strawberry Fields Forever           Beatles
1060 Like a Rolling Stone                    Bob Dylan
1061 634-5789                                   Wilson Pickett
1062 Brown Sugar                               Rolling Stones
1063 I Wanna Have Some Fun            Samantha Fox
1064 White Room                               Cream
1065 Pass the Dutchie                         Musical Youth
1066 Hard to Say I'm Sorry                Chicago
1067 Ruby Tuesday                            Rolling Stones
1068 Basketball Jones                        Cheech & Chong
1069 Love is Like Oxygen                  Sweet
1070 Human                                       Human League
1071 Nineteen                                    Paul Hardcastle
1072 Its Just Begun                            Jimmy Castor Bunch
1073 Ring of Fire                               Johnny Cash
1074 Give More Power to the People Chi Lites
1075 Little Willy                                  Sweet

If you grew up during the Viet Nam war, the experience probably had a significant effect on you. It had a greater effect on the combat soldier. The song Nieteen  starts out in WW II the average age of the combat soldier was 26. In Viet Nam he was 19. InInInInInInIn Viet Nam he was 19. Once you hear that song once you will never forget the song about not only the age of the soldier but the affect it had on the soldiers who served.

Musical Youth was a 5-boy reggae group who recorded a clean version of Pass the Kouchie(pass the joint). It contained two setrs of brothers and was a Grammy Nominee in 1982. The Musical Youth nwas also the first black group on MTV.

Keep on Dancin' was by far the Gentrys biggest hit--charting in 1965. What they may be better known for is producing Jimmy Hart--"The Mouth of the South" who went on to become a pro wrestling manager.

Why Can't We be Friends is the first of nine songs by War in my countdown. War was one of my favorite bands growing up and I saw them live in Shea Stadium in 1975. I keep hoping Lonnie Jordan who is the singer/organ player in War and who tours with a bunch of non-War guys will rejoin his old band now called the Low Rider Band which consists ex-War guys Howard Scott, Lee Oskar, Bebe Dickerson and Harold Brown but I'm afraid that won't happen.

My Top Songs of All Time 1076-1100

1076 Sugar Daddy                                    Jackson 5
1077 Day by Day                                     Godspell(Original Cast)
1078 Fortunate Son                                  Creedence Clearwater Revival
1079 Say You Love Me                            Fleetwood Mac
1080 Jungle Boogie                                   Kool and the Gang
1081 Hooked on a Feelin'                          BJ Thomas
1082 Hey Jude                                          Beatles
1083 You Were On My Mind                   We Five
1084 Songbird                                           Fleetwood Mac
1085 96 Tears                                           ? and the Mysterians
1086 Back off Boogaloo                           Ringo Starr
1087 You and I                                        Rick James
1088 Livin' in Shame                                 Diana Ross and the Supremes
1089 Release Me                                      Wilson Phillips
1090 Its Not Unusual                                 Tom Jones
1091 25 or 6 to 4                                      Chicago
1992 King Tut                                           Steve Martin
1093 Its a Livin' Thing                                Electric Light Orchestra
1094 Holly Holy                                        Neal Diamond
1095 Somebody                                       Bryan Adams
1096 My Baby Must be a Magician           Marvalettes
1097 Goodbye Stranger                             Supertramp
1098 Slide                                                 Goo Goo Dolls
1099 Brown Eyed Girl                                Van Morrison
1100 The Tide is High                                 Blondie

Needless to say this is the only time the San Francisco-based We Five will be in my countdown with their #3 hit in 1965 You Were  On My Mind. They did chart in the Billboard Top 100 with Lets Get Together  which was remade into a monster hit by the Youngbloods. The voice of the We Five, Beverly Bivens is still in the music business I believe and the group has been crediited with being the bridge between Peter Paul & Mary and The Mamas and the Papas.

Similarly, this is the only time that the garage-rock Michigan-based band ? and the Mysterians will appear on my countdown with the #1 smash in 1966 96 Tears. Although they had a minor hit with I Need Somebody(peaked at #22) and two other songs hit the Billboard top100, they are primarily known for 96 Tears. Fronted by Rudy Martinez, they have recorded in recent years in the Michigan but the last concert they gave is listed on their website as 2008.

One of my favorite bands of all time and probably my wifes favorite is Fleetwood Mac. Songbird and Say You Love Me represent the first two of 11 songs on my countdown. Unlike many fans of this band, my favorite singer is not Stevie Nicks but Christie McVie who alas I believe is retired in Scotland somewhere and seems highly unlikely to return.

1968 Topps 3-Ds

The Two 1954 Topps Ted Williams

My Top Songs of All Time 1101-1125

1101 Don't Give in to Him                                Gary Puckett and the Union Gap
1102 The One I Love                                       REM
1103 A Horse with No Name                           America
1104 Psychedelic Shack                                   Temptations
1105 Candida                                                   Tony Orlando and Dawn
1106 Tonight She Comes                                  Cars
1107 Kiss a Girl                                                Keith Urban
1108 Stacy's Mom                                            Fountains of Wayne
1109 Never Loved a Man                                 Aretha Franklin
1110 She's a Bad Mama Jama                           Carl Carlton
1111 One Less Bell to Answer                          Fifth Dimension
1112 American Boy                                          Estelle featuring Kante West
1113 Catch Us if You Can                                 Dave Clark Five
1114 I Think We're Alone Now                         Tommy James and the Shondells
1115 Proud Mary                                              Ike and Tina Turner
1116 Sealed with a Kiss                                    Brian Hyland
1117 Up On Cripple Creek                               The Band
1118 Get a Job                                                  Silhouettes
1119 Don't You Care                                        Buckinghams
1120 Don't You Get So Mad About It               Jeffrey Osborne
1121 Our House                                               Madness
1122 More More More                                    Andrea True Connection
1123 Toes                                                        Zac Brown Band
1124 I'll Be There                                             Michael Jackson
1125 Tipsy                                                       J Kwan

The Temptations were my favotite group in High School and I'll never forget going into MSG and seeing them in 1970 and getting right up front and watching Eddie Kendricks sing Its Just My Imagination. Alas, Eddie, David Ruffin, Melvyn Franklin and Paul Williams died young and althouigh Dennis Edwards and Otis Williams soldier on with competing versions of the Temptations it is nowhere near the same. This is the first of 11 songs by the Temptations.

The Cars were one of my favorite 80s bands and I think Just What I Needed was one of the highlights of Live Aid. This is the first of 7 songs by the Cars.

Gary Puckett still keeps it real on tour(sans the Union Gap) and this is the groups first of 5 sngs on my list.

One Hit Wonders is a phrase misused in my opinion as many bands on various countdowns had more than one. Quarterflash who had 3 huge hits was ranked in the one hit wonders by VH1? Despite my thought that Madness and the Andrea True Connection were one hit wonders, they each hit the top 40 with two songs during their run. In fact, the former actress in X-rated movies, Andrea True, hit the Top 100 4 different times in her career.

Brother Joscephus Delivers Explosion of Love, Righteousness and New Orleans Soul at Stratton Vt.

Brother Joscephus and the Love Revival Revolution Orchestra delivered what may be the best show I have ever seen at the Grizzly Lodge at Startton Mountain on New Years Eve. The three set show had the crowd rockin from A Child Shall Lead the Way in the first set to In the Midnight Hour--a Wicked Wilson Pickett cover in the third set.
The show was of course led by the Jewish 30ish year old native of Long Island Brother Josephus who acts and performs as if he has never spent a day outside of New Orleans. The Right  Reverend Dean Dog, the other leader of the 10-piece band on stage was also in fine form all show. I would also point out Seoul Sister who sings and dances on stage in a whirlwind of activity alongside another high energy young lady and six other musicians.
You get two things with the Brother Joscephus Band--you get an incredibly gifted songwriter/performer who writes his own songs. You also get an ultra-high energy performance who has the crowd going crazy the entire show. The combination works better than for anyone I have ever seen.

Below is the play list for the first two sets. The third contained a lot of newer material perhaps coming from what I understand is a second cd coming out. Check BrotherJoscephus.com for the bands schedule of east coast shows. Don't miss an opportunity to see a great band and a great show.

First Set:
A Child Shall Lead the Way
Vehicle(cover from the Ides of March)
You Just Can't Stop the Love
Bon Temps Roulez
Jambolaya
Have a Little Faith in Love
Nothing from Nothing(Billy Preston cover)

Second Set:
Everybody Needs Somebody
Fortunate Son(Creedence Cover)
Gimme Gimme Good Lovin'(Spencer Davis Group cover)
Dance to the Music(Sly and the Family cover)
Hold On, I'm Comin'(Sam and Dave cover)
I'm a Soul Man(Sam and Dave cover)
Good Times
Only the Good Die Young(Billy Joel cover)--they brought the house down with this one.
When the Saints Come Marchin' In