Chuck Eddy

Let Kama Sutra Guide You Blindfold Test #24

25 songs 1961-1997: Abwärts, Airplay, A.R. & Machines, Autosalvage, George Benson, Cymande, Al Downing, Gaza Sisters, Heavy Metal Kids, Jack Off Jill, Manfred Mann, Barbara Mason (twice), Maximum Joy, McCoys, Mr. President, Negative Trend, Asha Puthli, Pyrolator, Jesse Rae, Tams, Twilight 22, more.

And now the line is much longer than when I got there.

Probably took me two hours total at my polling place in South Austin, including the vote itself.

Half-Heartedly Defending Mariah Carey Sometimes I vote for her and sometimes I don't

I wrote this screed 2 years ago; not sure why I didn’t mention the Hole/L7-inspired grunge CD Mariah covertly helped record and release in 1995. Reviving the post now because just this week I submitted another R&R Hall of Fame ballot, and this time I *didn’t vote for her. Though maybe should have.

I will reveal next week whether I did, or didn't. Stay tuned....

150 Best Albums of 1988 “Possibly the most revered year in hip-hop,” the sticker on my copy of Ohio backpack rapper and producer Blueprint’s 2005 CD 1988 calls the year it’s named after, and “widely regarded as the greatest ...

Almost 1800 words on hip-hop's supposed greatest year ever, what genre had an even better year, dance music by other names, Spin magazine's 100 Greatest Singles of All Time list, the relationship between Arto Lindsay and Ava Max, pre-Radiohead post-rock, and above all my 150 favorite 1988 albums.

Half-Heartedly Defending Mariah Carey Sometimes I vote for her and sometimes I don't

I wrote this screed 2 years ago; not sure why I didn’t mention the Hole/L7-inspired grunge CD Mariah covertly helped record and release in 1995. Reviving the post now because just this week I submitted another R&R Hall of Fame ballot, and this time I *didn’t vote for her. Though maybe should have.

Exactly. I just wanted to get it over with, too much on my plate already.

I'll put them in a Substack post (which I'll link to here) next week. (Of course, I'm already second-guessing who I voted for.)

150 Best Albums of 1988 “Possibly the most revered year in hip-hop,” the sticker on my copy of Ohio backpack rapper and producer Blueprint’s 2005 CD 1988 calls the year it’s named after, and “widely regarded as the greatest ...

Almost 1800 words on hip-hop's supposed greatest year ever, what genre had an even better year, dance music by other names, Spin magazine's 100 Greatest Singles of All Time list, the relationship between Arto Lindsay and Ava Max, pre-Radiohead post-rock, and above all my 150 favorite 1988 albums.

Okay! I'd forgotten Luther was in there. (Not sure I've ever really written about him otherwise. But I do like the guy.)

...but wait, Luther Vandross in my profile?? I'm confused.

It'd sure make voting a lot easier!

4 out of 7, not bad!

No but anyone who wants to guess my ballot is welcome to, and I'll gladly reveal how many they got right.

Scored more than 30 percentile points (and I think 200 or so regular points) higher in math on my SATs than verbal. I'd say it has both helped and hurt me over the years.

My personally emailed Rock & Roll Hall of Fame ballot informs me that "7 selections are required for your votes to count," when I could comfortably stop at three. I clearly have some coins to flip today.

150 Best Albums of 2023 As the hottest year on record so far wound down to a holiday season portending what’s sure to be an even hotter and otherwise frightening on many fronts 2024, an article began making the rounds on wha...

5200 words on redoing old songs for no good reason, the deadly scourge of "indie folk," pop's middle class, listening to sped-up music on purpose, jazz revisiting century-old music, a kind of music somebody named "futurismus" and maybe they weren't even joking, and my 150 favorite albums of 2023.

150 Best Albums of 2023 As the hottest year on record so far wound down to a holiday season portending what’s sure to be an even hotter and otherwise frightening on many fronts 2024, an article began making the rounds on wha...

5200 words on redoing old songs for no good reason, the deadly scourge of "indie folk," pop's middle class, listening to sped-up music on purpose, jazz revisiting century-old music, a kind of music somebody named "futurismus" and maybe they weren't even joking, and my 150 favorite albums of 2023.

He's always been pretty bland. Only album I've ever liked much is Like Red On a Rose, one of the worst-selling of his hit-making (i.e. pre 2010) era, closest he's come to a jazz record. Otherwise, I'm sure I could put together a decent 10-song best-of if somebody paid me.

50 Worst Cover Versions Ever Blindfold tests, critical archives, fungal finds, urban ruins, and the most comprehensive, wide-ranging and idiosyncratic year-by-year single-listener recorded music accounting on the planet.

Been saying this for decades (well, not the AI part, but still.) Check out #4 on this list:

Mostly German Used 45s #1 15 Mostly Very Cheesy Singles (= about 30 Songs?), 1961-1976

For years, Metal Mike Saunders mailed me huge annual care packages of 45- and 33-rpm records he’d rejected after salvaging them from cheapo bins in used stores or flea markets, often while touring Europe. Much of said vinyl turned out to be fascinating and/or horrifying on myriad cheeseball levels.

When she was little I used to pretend my youngest kid's Bucky stuffed animal from Buck-ee's was singing this to her in a beaver voice -- "The chicken tastes like wood/That's good!!"

Wire review, 1987 This review got accused of all sorts of things.

In honor of Wire bassist/lyricist/vocalist Graham Lewis's 73rd birthday, here’s an old Village Voice article that very much upset some people. Those were the days! I suppose 1987 was my “rockist period." Which didn’t last much longer. Still curious if anybody thinks Wire peaked in the ‘80s not ‘70s.

I think the subsequent two albums -- Chairs Missing and 154 -- are both on a level with Pink Flag. After that, they still lose me.

Wire review, 1987 This review got accused of all sorts of things.

In honor of Wire bassist/lyricist/vocalist Graham Lewis's 73rd birthday, here’s an old Village Voice article that very much upset some people. Those were the days! I suppose 1987 was my “rockist period." Which didn’t last much longer. Still curious if anybody thinks Wire peaked in the ‘80s not ‘70s.

Mighty Mammals, Mutant Martians, and Mongaroos Blindfold Test #23

25 songs 1958-2009: Blast, Carolina Tar Heels, Cyber People, Clint Eastwood+General Saint, Fehlfarben, Hatfield+North, Inca Babies, Koto, Myron Lee+Caddies, Liechtenstein, Mallard, Mofungo, Mtume, Prince Charles+City Beat Band, Gerry Rafferty, Sandie Shaw, Suburban Lawns, Wireless,Tappa Zukie, more!

Indie Dudes Get Physical in 2005 Drunk Horse, Novadriver and CDBaby bands rocked hard for meager money.

As the ‘00s turned into the ‘10s — decades in which I wasn’t always paying close attention — the digital independent-label music source emusic asked 10 writers to each write up something about indie music in a select year of the waning decade. Somehow I drew the "2005" straw, and came up with this.

150 Best Albums of 1974 Punk Rock Proper’s still a year or two away, which means music’s supposedly trapped at the absolute pinnacle of Needing Punk To Happen, and yet…damn, there were a lot of punks making good albums in 19...

1660 or so words on my 150 favorite albums from 1974, focusing particularly on punk before punk happened — which wasn’t even necessarily the most exciting thing happening in popular music at the time! - but also the critical appreciation of live albums and stuff like that.

150 Best Albums of 1960/'61/'62 “At the time of our hike, the Appalachian Trail was 59 years old.

3000++ words on Standing the Test of Time, the one record from its era that has indisputably done so, a dance-fad bandwagon that moved presidents' wives & daughters' feet & maybe changed everything, the mystery of Booty Green, how neo-colonialism fit into all this & my 150 favorite LPs of 1960-'62.