Dude where's my blog?!

Greetings fine people. I know it's been a while since my last post and probably all 2 of you out there are really upset about it. So never fear, a new post is here!

Like many, I really love music and can appreciate many different types, however my roots are with rock & roll more than anything else. Sure, I have memories of my folks "jamming" to James Taylor and Judy Collins, but I've put them in a place I hope no one ever finds.

I have to credit my friend Chris for cultivating my music palette in the late 80s. Without him introducing me to then called "alternative" groups like Toad the Wet Sprocket, Camper Van Beethoven, R.E.M., & especially Jane's Addiction and the Pixies (best band EVER), I wouldn't have developed a love for music as much as I do. There were many times when we just cruised along listening to stuff I'd never heard before and wasn't being played on the radio. It brings back many good memories. Oh sure, Chris had to bear with me playing the Cramps, U2 out the yin-yang, the Tuff Darts, and the crap that I used to record myself (yes, there ARE tapes of that, but certainly not child-appropriate or even worth listening to). But since we were usually in his truck, we listened to his stuff. That was fine by me.

It's been a while since I've heard a song or band that caught my attention. I know I'm going to sound old here, but the crap I hear on the radio is just that: crap! That's why I mostly listen to talk radio now (OK, I AM old). While I was waiting to get my haircut a while ago, I was glancing through a Rolling Stone magazine. I can honestly say I hadn't heard of ANY of the songs in the top 50, and not very many of the bands/singers either. I guess that's why I don't get Rolling Stone anymore.

All of you have probably seen the Geico caveman commercials over the past couple of years. For whatever reason, I find them hilarious! Especially the dude at the airport looking at the "so easy, a caveman could do it" sign in disgust, or the tennis commercial with Billie Jean King . . . SCOREBOARD! But my favorite is the one with the two dudes getting off of their motorcycles and walking towards a couple of "hotties." Then they notice a billboard above them with the infamous quote and they turn around and high-tail it. I guess they really aren't THAT smart, right?



Well the song on that commercial sounds like something from the alternative 80s era, so I looked it up. Come to find out it's from a Swedish band called The Sounds. The song is called Hurt You from the Dying To See You album. They've been around for a while and their "sound" is pretty damn cool. I downloaded their two albums on iTunes and for the most part it's pretty good. They sound like a retro Missing Persons with more of a rock sound. As always, YouTube comes to the rescue. I found this video of them on Letterman a couple of years ago performing "Seven Days a Week" and I loved it. It gets better everytime you watch it:




Don't you love it when you find a new song or band that you haven't heard of before and you can't get enough? It reminds me of those days cruising around with Chris listening to God-knows-what and loving every minute of it.