This is a weekly Top Ten list of what I consider to be the best songs that I listened to the previous week. Most songs will be current, but there are no boundaries. I’ve already stated on this web site that I am obsessed with music. I am constantly hunting it down whether it’s online, on CD, from my personal collection, from a library (Yes, I think the library is a great source of music–especially for music that you aren’t sure about.), TV, or radio. Since most of these sources mostly emphasize new music, the odds are pretty good that most of the songs on this list will be new. But in my search, I don’t use any boundaries for the other sources. I am just looking for good music that I haven’t heard, or happened to forget about. Everyone, including myself, has forgotten way more great music than they can ever remember-even if they are also music fanatics.
Also, there will be no rules concerning songs on this list. A song can show up or drop off a number of times. This will be the most volatile of my lists. It all depends on how much music I am exposed to during the week and what I find interesting. On really obscure stuff, I will try to include the source, if I know it.
Most of the songs heard on this list have been played on my radio shows, “Theme Attic,” heard Wednesdays, 10A-12N ET, or “Prime Time Theme Attic,” heard Mondays, 8P-10P ET!
This list forms the basis of my countdown list on the “Top 9 at 9:09” segment of my “Prime Time Theme Attic Show” on alternating weeks, along with my “Phil’s Faves, Albums” lists!
If you like what you see, don’t forget to spread the word by hitting the “like” button on my Facebook page, Phil Maq!
QQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQ
Vespers are answered for a second week at #1!!
QQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQ
Top Ten Songs for the Week of March 4, 2018
1. Midnight Vespers—Birdsong at Morning
2. Wish You Well—The Garden of Soul
3. Salmon Zone—Oginalii
4. We’ve All Failed and Won—Randy Cherkis
5. Grandpa, Please Don’t Die—Jesse Xavier
6. The Lion and The Lamb—The Static Dial
7. Girl From the North Country—Wendy Webb
8. In Like a Lion—American Housewife
9. Rita—Bill Edwards
10.The Boxer—The O’Reillys and The Paddyhats
QQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQ
Don’t forget to like my Facebook page!
I know it may be sacrilegious to say so, but I have never really cared for Bob Dylan’s version of the song. However, Wendy delivers what I consider to be my favorite version. It’s a very simple arrangement of electric piano with a pedal steel guitar solo. That leaves plenty of space to concentrate on her beautiful vocal! The video is an added bonus as a retrospective of her career!
My next selection is a video that I ran across recently. Alison Krauss released an amazing album of Classic Country cover songs. Originally recorded by Brenda Lee, “Losing You” is one of the Greatest Songs Ever Recorded (GSER)! Once again, just like the Wendy Webb song mentioned above, the arrangement is subdued and unobtrusive, so the listener can concentrate on that wonderful vocal!
My third choice is violinist Deni Bonet! Although there isn’t a vocal on the “Light This Candle” off of her latest album, “Bright Shiny Objects,” Deni brings electricity and sparks in her performance! I have the feeling that even when Bonet sets her instrument down, it remains on “sizzle!” The violin does the singing for her, and it’s a beautiful thing!
Speaking of beautiful, all three women are representative of all the women in the world, who are all beautiful in their own way!
HAPPY INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY!!!
QQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQ
If you like what you see, don’t forget to spread the word by hitting the “like” button on my Facebook page, Phil Maq!
International Women’s Day happens this Thursday, and I like to focus on female artists for that day. It’s a small way that I can honor them and bring awareness to the event.
Since I will be in Lansing on Wednesday receiving an award, there will only be one show this week for me, and that is Monday night’s “Prime Time Theme Attic” with Phil Maq, from 8PM-10PM ET!!!
Tune in to 89.3 FM (89.3 WHFR.FM) in the Dearborn-Detroit area, and you’ll have to use Tune In or Echo Players to stream it.
Please share freely with your fans, friends, and families, but say something about yourself in the comments section when you repost it, so that everyone knows why your posting it! QQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQ And please feel free to “like” the Phil Maq page! Thank you!!
Over time, my listening habits have changed and at the moment I usually listen to albums completely through. I haven’t done that in years, but it’s actually very rewarding—particularly when the album is good. Every album that will be on this list will fit that category.
Songs from the albums on this list forms the basis of my countdown list for the “Top 9 at 9:09” segment of my “Prime Time Theme Attic Show,” (Mondays, 8P-10P ET) on alternating weeks, along with my “Phil’s Faves, Songs” lists!
They may also turn up on my “Theme Attic Show,” (Wednesdays, 10A-12N ET)
It’s another peak into my listening habits—which is a goal of mine. If you want to know where I’m heading or what I think about some new music, you will find it here.
I honestly don’t expect there to be much volatility on this list because these albums are what I have been basing many of the sets on my show.
Once again, there will be no boundaries. I will go wherever my musical muse takes me.
If you like what you see, don’t forget to spread the word by hitting the “like” button on my Facebook page, Phil Maq!
QQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQ
The blues feel better at #1!!!
QQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQ
Top 10 Albums for the Week of February 25, 2018
1. The Blues Just Make Me Feel Good—John Latini
2. Urgency Squad—Xposed 4Heads
3. A Slight Departure—Birdsong at Morning
4. Taller Than They Appear—Taller Than They Appear
5. Feel Your Feelings, Fool!—The Regrettes
6. The Deep Enders—Matt Jones and The Reconstruction
7. Heartbeat Serenade—Common Union 59
8. Blood Red Yonder—Ben Rogers
9. Chariot—Victoria Reed
10.Wounded Bird—Ray Vaughn
QQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQ
Don’t forget to like my Facebook page!
This is a weekly Top Ten list of what I consider to be the best songs that I listened to the previous week. Most songs will be current, but there are no boundaries. I’ve already stated on this web site that I am obsessed with music. I am constantly hunting it down whether it’s online, on CD, from my personal collection, from a library (Yes, I think the library is a great source of music–especially for music that you aren’t sure about.), TV, or radio. Since most of these sources mostly emphasize new music, the odds are pretty good that most of the songs on this list will be new. But in my search, I don’t use any boundaries for the other sources. I am just looking for good music that I haven’t heard, or happened to forget about. Everyone, including myself, has forgotten way more great music than they can ever remember-even if they are also music fanatics.
Also, there will be no rules concerning songs on this list. A song can show up or drop off a number of times. This will be the most volatile of my lists. It all depends on how much music I am exposed to during the week and what I find interesting. On really obscure stuff, I will try to include the source, if I know it.
Most of the songs heard on this list have been played on my radio shows, “Theme Attic,” heard Wednesdays, 10A-12N ET, or “Prime Time Theme Attic,” heard Mondays, 8P-10P ET!
This list forms the basis of my countdown list on the “Top 9 at 9:09” segment of my “Prime Time Theme Attic Show” on alternating weeks, along with my “Phil’s Faves, Albums” lists!
If you like what you see, don’t forget to spread the word by hitting the “like” button on my Facebook page, Phil Maq!
QQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQ
I suppose it’s possible that “vespers,”even at midnight, can get you to #1!
QQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQ
Top Ten Songs for the Week of February 25, 2018
1. Midnight Vespers—Birdsong at Morning
2. The Lion and The Lamb—The Static Dial
3. Grandpa, Please Don’t Die—Jesse Xavier
4. Salmon Zone—Oginalii
5. Wish You Well—The Garden of Soul
6. Rita—Bill Edwards
7. We’ve All Failed and Won—Randy Cherkis
8. Girl From the North Country—Wendy Webb
9. In Like a Lion—American Housewife
10.The Thing About Us—Judy Banker
QQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQ
Don’t forget to like my Facebook page!
Tune in to 89.3 FM (89.3 WHFR.FM) in the Dearborn-Detroit area, and you’ll have to use Echo or Tune In Players to stream it.
Please share freely with your fans, friends, and families, but say something about yourself in the comments section when you repost it, so that everyone knows why your posting it! QQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQ And please feel free to “like” the Phil Maq page! Thank you!!
To some who follow and appreciate both, it may even be blasphemous.
How can you compare the likes of John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr—all of whom were musicians and played their own instruments, to a group that were singers and dancers? Well, it’s not a perfect comparison, but I’ll offer up my analysis.
First, The Beatles, are hands down, my favorite artists! As far as I’m concerned, no one even comes close. What they did for music will probably never be repeated.
What I’m more interested in for this discussion, is the evolving arc of development over the course of a career. How does an artist go from “Baby It’s You” and “P.S. I Love You” to something like “A Day in the Life” or “Abbey Road” in such a small amount of time? Similarly, how does a doo-wop style of group go from “Check Yourself” and “You’re a Dream Come True” to such songs as “Cloud 9” and “Ball of Confusion?”
I’m not going to recap all of the changes that took place during that span of approximately eight years, 1962-1970, to instruments and recording equipment, as well as societal and political waves. There’s plenty written about those things, and if I wanted to write a book about them I would do so. That type of scope is too big for this article.
But the same factors that affected The Beatles were also affecting Motown Records—that R&B hit making machine from Detroit, Michigan, and in particular, The Temptations.
Surprisingly, both artists had similar career starts. And why not? The timelines are parallel. Otis Williams, a founding member of The Temptations who came out of Texarkana, Texas recorded a song called “Pecos Kid”—pretty standard fare for what was being recorded back then in Texas.
From there, Otis teamed up with two other members, Richard Street and Melvin Franklin, to record songs like “Check Yourself” and “All Right” as a singing group known as The Distants—the forerunners of The Temptations. (There was a short stretch where they were known as The Elgins and also The Pirates(?)!)
Once a new band name was decided upon, it was still a rough road until things started happening for The Temptations. As personnel kept shifting, the group released eight singles that pretty much flopped. It was rumored that insiders were referring to them as “The hitless Temptations.”
It wasn’t until Smokey Robinson began producing them as well as writing some of their songs, that they took off. And when they started to click, the hits were pretty much non—stop: “My Girl,” “Ain’t Too Proud to Beg,”
“Get Ready” “The Way You Do the Things You Do” and many others. This was known as the “Classic 5” era when the members were Otis Williams, David Ruffin, Melvin Franklin, Paul Williams, and Eddie Kendricks. The final stage of this lineup included their hit single, “I Wish It Would Rain”—one of the greatest songs ever recorded that included one of the greatest string sections ever recorded!
This was the song that opened my ears to the beauty of The Temptations and Motown! I remember a very wet stretch of weather during the summer of 1967 where it rained for several days straight—and I mean a lot of rain! As a kid in August, the last thing you wanted was a lot of rain when school was coming so close. Having no choice in the matter, I remember sitting on the upstairs steps at my parents house, looking outside wishing the rain would stop. And here comes this beautiful song on the radio hoping for the opposite! It didn’t matter. I bonded with the song and the group.
The Temptations would soon take things to an even higher level with even more greatest songs ever recorded!
David Ruffin was replaced by Dennis Edwards and Norman Whitfield took over producing and writing songs. The Temptations became edgier and showed it in their song selections and styles.
“Cloud 9” was the next jaw dropper. Dennis Coffey, with his wah-wah guitar, and drummer Spider Webb accenting the rhythm on his hi-hat, both drove the song with their unusual arrangement! I had never heard anything like it! I had just started playing drums, and it was stunning! Psychedelic Soul!!!
All of a sudden, it wasn’t The Beatles I was listening to. It was The Temptations!
I wore that record out! I couldn’t hear it enough! I even liked the fade out where the group resorted to its doo-wop roots! This was one of the few times the music establishment agreed with the public and rewarded both The Temptations and Motown with its first Grammy win!
The masterpieces kept coming: “I Can’t Get Next to You,” “Ball of Confusion” and “Papa Was a Rollin’ Stone!” All of these song kept The Temptations on the radio as they seemed to never run out of new ideas!
So that brings me back full circle to the reason for this article: The Temptations were Motown’s Beatles! They road the same waves and pushed the musical “envelope.” Sure, they had help. So did The Beatles (Eric Clapton, Billy Preston, and others).
But don’t forget that The Beatles were fans, too!
And let’s face it: The Supremes [Hall of Fame] didn’t do it. The Four Tops [Hall of Fame] didn’t do it. The Miracles [Hall of Fame] didn’t do it. All of these artists did have their own moments of social relevance and musical artistry but none of them pushed it like The Temptations!
Join me Monday night on “Prime Time Theme Attic” from 8PM-10PM ET as I induct The Temptations into my “Hall of Fame!”
February is coming to a close so I thought I would finish Black History Month with a look at some classic and current artists of African American origin on Monday night’s “Prime Time Theme Attic” with Phil Maq, from 8PM-10PM ET!!!
The Temptations will be joining the “Theme Attic Hall of Fame,” so they will have a nice selection of songs. That will be until approximately 9:09, because the weekly “Top 9 at 9:09” takes over! This week it will be “Phil’s Faves: Songs!”
Tune in to 89.3 FM (89.3 WHFR.FM) in the Dearborn-Detroit area, and, more than likely, you’ll have to use Echo or Tune In Players to stream it. Please share freely with your fans, friends, and families, but say something about yourself in the comments section when you repost it, so that everyone knows why your posting it! QQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQ And please feel free to “like” the Phil Maq page! Thank you!
It’s time for the annual Radiothon fund raising drive for WHFR in Dearborn, Michigan.
The times and dates that I’m looking for assistance, are Monday night, April 9, 8PM-10PM ET and Wednesday morning, April 11, 10AM-12PM ET. The station likes special programming during this week to raise funds, so unusual and different is good.
Last year, Jane Christison, a Kansas based kindie entertainer, offered her help from Kansas.
Honestly, I didn’t expect that kind of offer.
I was concentrating on having someone in the studio with me. I still would like and need that. However, I’m trying to think outside the box.
Let’s turn this into an extravaganza! An event!
I’m reaching out to my musical friends to see what they would like to do! It might be an interview. It might just be testimony about the importance of having a radio station like WHFR. Distance will not be a problem this year! Who knows what we can come up with?
If you want to help, I’ll try to help you in that regard!
So, this is not a first answered—first served thing. I am posting my interview list. It’s still missing several artists, but I will be updating it. If you want to be placed on the list, too, offer to help me raise funds for my beloved station, WHFR!
E-mail me, if you’re interested, to phil@philmaq.com. Include how you’d like to help.
Let’s make a real connection, far and wide! QQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQ
Don’t forget to like my Facebook page!
Over time, my listening habits have changed and at the moment I usually listen to albums completely through. I haven’t done that in years, but it’s actually very rewarding—particularly when the album is good. Every album that will be on this list will fit that category.
Songs from the albums on this list forms the basis of my countdown list for the “Top 9 at 9:09” segment of my “Prime Time Theme Attic Show,” (Mondays, 8P-10P ET) on alternating weeks, along with my “Phil’s Faves, Songs” lists!
They may also turn up on my “Theme Attic Show,” (Wednesdays, 10A-12N ET)
It’s another peak into my listening habits—which is a goal of mine. If you want to know where I’m heading or what I think about some new music, you will find it here.
I honestly don’t expect there to be much volatility on this list because these albums are what I have been basing many of the sets on my show.
Once again, there will be no boundaries. I will go wherever my musical muse takes me.
If you like what you see, don’t forget to spread the word by hitting the “like” button on my Facebook page, Phil Maq!
QQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQ
Taller Than They Appear are tall enough to reach #1!
QQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQ
Top 10 Albums for the Week of February 18, 2018
1. Taller Than They Appear—Taller Than They Appear
2. Urgency Squad—Xposed 4Heads
3. The Blues Just Make Me Feel Good—John Latini
4. A Slight Departure—Birdsong at Morning
5. Feel Your Feelings, Fool!—The Regrettes
6. The Deep Enders—Matt Jones and The Reconstruction
7. Heartbeat Serenade—Common Union 59
8. The Bloodred Yonder—Ben Rogers
9. Chariot—Victoria Reed
10.Wounded Bird—Ray Vaughn
QQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQ
Don’t forget to like my Facebook page!
