An infinite number of songs can each be THE greatest record ever made, as long as they take turns. Given the intimate connection between the lives we lead and the pop music we love, I often prefer to do my GREM! pieces as personal essays, detailing my relationship with the record and hoping my unique experience can translate into something universal. Maybe we weren't all eighth-grade square pegs when "I Can See Clearly Now" ruled the radio, but most of us have been in situations where we didn't feel as though we belonged. In our misshapen, mutant moments, music was there for us. Sometimes that was enough, and sometimes it was not. But it meant something. That's the feeling I want to convey in The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1).
With the Thanksgiving holiday this week, I've decided to take a break in my weekly GREM! video series on YouTube; the series will resume next week with an appreciation of Elvis Presley's "Heartbreak Hotel." I'm continuing to work on the book itself, tweaking the Table of Contents a little bit more (again). Friday's blog post will be the opening paragraphs of my Merle Haggard chapter, discussing my love-hate relationship with country music. I've added a second Monkees song to the book (a previously-posted chapter about "The Girl I Knew Somewhere"), and I'm considering a few others I may wish to add, mulling whether or not I want to delete any planned entries. At this time, I'm still committed to deliberately omitting a few of my all-time favorite songs (by The Animals, The Vogues, and The Yardbirds, among others), just to emphasize the idea that the GREM! concept is and should be larger than anything that could be contained within a single book.
But we'll get to the infinite in due time. Today, the late Johnny Nash gets his own infinite turn. "I Can See Clearly Now" is The Greatest Record Ever Made!, and it's the subject of the latest Boppin' Pop-A-Looza.
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This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio with Dana & Carl airs Sunday nights from 9 to Midnight Eastern, on the air in Syracuse at SPARK! WSPJ 103.3 and 93.7 FM, and on the web at http://sparksyracuse.org/ You can read about our history here.
The many fine This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio compilation albums are still available, each full of that rockin' pop sound you crave. A portion of all sales benefit our perpetually cash-strapped community radio project:
Volume 1: download
Volume 2: CD or download
Volume 3: download
Volume 4: CD or download
Waterloo Sunset--Benefit For This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio: CD or download
Carl's writin' a book! The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1)will contain 165 essays about 165 tracks, each one of 'em THE greatest record ever made. An infinite number of records can each be the greatest record ever made, as long as they take turns. Updated initial information can be seen here: THE GREATEST RECORD EVER MADE! (Volume 1).
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