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Michael’s Top Books of 2012 – the Also Rans

The First Time I Heard Kate Bush2012 was a good year for books.  My New Year resolution last year was to read more, and I successfully accomplished that.  Last year I read 33 books, up from twenty-something last year.  Of those 33 books, I have a top 16 that I will post about in the coming days.  For this first post in the series, I’m going to talk about some of the books that I really enjoyed that I just couldn’t squeeze onto my top books of the year list.

There were two books in particular that deserve a special mention.  The first is part of a terrific new series available in ebook only edited by Scott Heim called, The First Time I Heard…  I read the first in the series featuring the Cocteau Twins, which was a delight, but anyone who knows me knows that a later book in the series, The First Time I Heard Kate Bush, was tailor made for me.  Kate has long been my favorite musical artist, and it was really special reading the essays that Scott pulled together from various musicians, artists, authors and the like, all talking about the first time they heard Ms. Bush.  From those who were there from the beginning, fortunate enough to live in England during the late 70’s and the release of her first single, “Wuthering Heights,” to younger folk who first heard of Kate when she finally broke the Top 40 here in the U.S. with “Running Up That Hill.”  The First Time I Heard Kate Bush was ever so fun to read, and perhaps when I’m finished with this series about my top books of 2012, I will include a post about the first time I heard Kate Bush.

Kicking & Screaming

Also in the musical vein, another book that deserves special notice and gave me great pleasure to read this past year was  Kicking & Screaming: A Story of Heart Soul and Rock and Roll by Ann & Nancy Wilson.  Again, those of you who know me, know that aside from Kate Bush, Ann Wilson and Heart have had an incredibly profound impact on my life in music.  Ann and Nancy, with their co-writer Charles Cross, chronicle their lives from childhood, through the ups and downs and musical challenges face by that seminal and classic rock band, Heart.  Even though much of the story was known to me, after decades of following their careers (even a lengthy stint in their fan club – I was in Kate’s as well) there was plenty I didn’t, and their candor and insights proved to be terrific reading.  One of my greatest wishes is to one day meet Ann Wilson and thank her for the incredible music she has given us, and now, after reading their story, I feel I know her that little bit more.

Other books I really enjoyed but just didn’t make the list include:

The First Warm Evening of the Year by Jamie Saul
Zone One by Colson Whitehead
The Revised Fundamentals of Caregiving by Jonathan Eviston
Live By Night by Dennis Lehane
Calling Invisible Women by Jeanne RayBeautiful Ruins by Jess Walter
Canada by Richard Ford
Fantastic Four: Season One by Roberto Aguire-Sacasa
The Collective by Don Lee
Falling Backwards: A Memoir by Jann Arden

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30 Day Song Challenge Day 30 – Your Favorite Song at This Time Last Year

This is a silly challenge to end the meme with. In reality, my favorite song is my favorite song, and while it does change over time, it certainly doesn’t change in a year’s time. So last year, my favorite song was Kate Bush’s Hounds of Love, just like it is this year. That said, I did have a “favorite new song” last year… a discovery that made me really excited. An amazing song with an incredible video by an artist I had never heard of that just blew me away. So that’s the song I’ve selected for this Day 30 challenge. (And come back tomorrow, because I’ve got a little added extra in store for this meme).

The artist is billed as Fever Ray, which is actually the solo project for Swedish singer/songwriter Karin Dreijer Andersson. Karin first gained acclaim as one half of the electronic duo, The Knife, for which she sang lead vocals. I can’t remember how I discovered the video for Fever Ray’s second single off her debut album. The song is called When I Grow Up, and the video exemplifies the theatrical nature of Karin’s performances. It’s creepy, it’s primal, it mystical, it’s clever and I do hope you’ll take a look. I still enjoy watching this video every time I think about it.

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30 Day Song Challenge Day 28 – A Song That Makes You Feel Guilty

Emm GrynerI had my own rule for this meme, that I would only include songs for which I could post videos from YouTube. I am now breaking this rule for day 28, a song that makes me feel guilty. There’s really only one song that makes me feel guilty, and by guilty, I don’t mean guilty pleasures, because those don’t really make me feel guilty. During the break-up of my previous serious relationship, I felt plenty guilty, and I have a distinct memory of driving in my car, listening to Emm Gryner’s Science Fair album, and this song in particular, and bawling my eyes out. The song as a whole isn’t applicable to that situation, but in general it is, and some of the lines just pierced my heart. The song is called Revenge, and it’s not available on YouTube so click the link below which will bring you to Yahoo Music where you can listen to this heartbreakingly lovely song. I said Tori Amos’ Tear in Your Hand was lyrically spot on about what you feel when you’re going through a breakup, and so it this one.

http://new.music.yahoo.com/emm-gryner/tracks/revenge–8743615

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30 Day Song Challenge Day 27 – A Song You Wish You Could Play

Come on, there are tons of songs I wish I could play. For day 27 of this meme I am choosing a song I really like, that I wish I could play, and wish I had written. Tori Amos floored me when her Little Earthquakes album came out, and while she’s done some amazing stuff since, that album really set a tone that has never truly been reached again. Her song, Tear In Your Hand is lyrically spot on about the feelings you go through after a breakup, and yet it’s done so poetically and hauntingly. And it’s another song that has got a great driving piano line. It doesn’t seem so difficult, and perhaps I could learn it if I took the time or found the music. But since I haven’t yet, and it’s probably my favorite song by Tori, it gets a spot in this meme.

Enjoy this awesome live performance with a full band from the Glastonbury Festival. Plus, this video has the lyrics too.

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30 Day Song Challenge Day 26 – A Song That You Can Play on an Instrument

I was in a band in the early 80s, so there are actually a lot of songs I can play on the bass guitar, and a few I can play on the piano/keyboard. When we first started out our band, Psyclone by name, played a lot of covers. We played songs by Pat Benatar, Robin Lane & the Chartbusters, the Pretenders, Split Enz, Motorhead, Donnie Iris, Joe Jackson, Blondie… and lots more. What’s that? Motorhead? Oh yeah, we did a rockin’ rendition of The Chase is Better Than the Catch. I got to sing lead on Donnie Iris’ Ah, Leah, which was a lot of fun to perform. After the band broke up, I kept playing a little, learning songs by some of my favorite artists, but I didn’t have access to a keyboard for many years until just recently.

One song I had learned back in the early 80s, mainly because it was propelled by a great piano part, has stuck with me to this day. I still can play this song pretty much in its entirety by memory, although I do have the music and I recently pulled it out and did a much better job. The song is by Heart, and it’s a bit of a rarity as it was one of the early songs that Nancy sang. It’s from the album Bebe le Strange, and it’s called Raised On You. I love songs that are powered by the piano, and this one is a lot of fun to play.

Oh, what the heck. Here’s a really bad video for Ah, Leah too. This is a really great song, and I really loved performing it. I couldn’t do the screams at the end though, so Donnie, the other guy singer in the band had to do that part.