First off: I’m the guest conductor for the merry, merry month of May. Normally, the guest conductor inserts the Linky somewhere on his or her page, but I can’t do that, because WordPress wants all kinds of money from me to do just that. So, if you decided to join us (and Lord knows we would LOVE to have you join us), write your post including at least one song (or Cathy will deal with you) and either go here and add all the important stuff they ask you for, or visit Cathy, Alana, Stacy, or Sandee, all of whom have the Linky embedded in their MMMM post, and drop it in there. OK? OK!

Also want to give a shoutout to our head conductor Marie, aka Xmas Dolly, who has been ailing. Get well soon, Marie. Things just ain’t the same without you.

Enough of all that…

The theme I chose for today was "songs about cars and racing, because of the Indy 500." I have a list of songs I normally choose for that topic, and I realized that that’s kind of boring. Anyway, as I was looking at my options, I found an album by The Rip Chords called Three Window Coupe and said, "hey, why not?" First, from the Wikipedia article:

The Rip Chords were an early-1960s American vocal group, originally known as the Opposites, composed of Phil Stewart and Ernie Bringas. The group eventually expanded into four primary voices, adding Columbia producer Terry Melcher and co-producer Bruce Johnston (best known as a member of the Beach Boys). This group came to be associated with the hot-rod and surf genres of that day, although their first single ("Here I Stand") did not reflect those styles. They recorded for Columbia Records in Hollywood from 1962 to 1965. The group placed five singles on the Billboard Hot 100. They are best known for their number-four single: "Hey Little Cobra".

Three Window Coupe was released in September 1964. It originally had twelve tracks, so apparently three bonus tracks were added. Five of the fifteen songs are under two minutes, with the longest being 2:38. A few of the songs are more surfing and beach songs, but really, the whole Southern California culture revolved around the car. Music is provided by the famed session musicians The Wrecking Crew.

Hope you’ve enjoyed the music of The Rip Chords. That’s Monday’s Music Moves Me for May 16, 2022.

Last Friday, I started a series prompted by this article on the BestClassicBands website, which lists 100 artists and bands that are not in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame (RRHOF) and, arguably, should be. I’m going to share names from this list on alternate Mondays here and on Fridays as part of Five For Friday, and when I’m done with that, there’s another list with a hundred more. To the best of my knowledge, none of these have even been considered. I’ll be sharing my thoughts on each as I go along.

1. The Blues Project, "I Can’t Keep From Crying Sometimes": I learned about The Blues Project in high school while I was learning what I could about the band Blood Sweat & Tears. I learned a lot about playing lead guitar from listening to Danny Kalb and about the harmonica from listening to Steve Katz.

2. Boston, "More Than A Feeling": Boston was huge during the mid- to late-’70’s and are played on AOR (album-oriented rock) stations to this day. They’re a big influence on hard rock, despite the fact that they’ve only issued six albums in their 47-year existence.

3. Kate Bush, "Babooshka": Kate’s been around since the mid-’70’s as well. She hasn’t been as popular in the US, but I know many of you from the UK are big fans of hers. She was the first woman in the UK to have a #1 song that was written by her, and all of her albums have been in the Top Ten there.

4. Jerry Butler, "Only The Strong Survive": Jerry’s from Chicago and a former member of The Impressions, a group fronted by Curtis Mayfield. He has a remarkable voice and has been popular on the R&B charts for many years.

5. Glen Campbell, "Try A Little Kindness": Glen was a member of The Wrecking Crew, a group of elite Los Angeles session musicians, and played on many records by The Beach Boys and The Monkees, as well as many others. I knew a guy in high school who worshipped Glen, and I can understand why now.

6. Canned Heat, "Rollin’ and Tumblin’": Another band that was a big influence on me during my blues days. I learned a lot by listening to Al "Blind Owl" Wilson, the nerdy guy with glasses who you don’t see until about halfway through here.

7. Captain Beefheart, "Upon The My O My": Not exactly the most popular act, more of a cult favorite, but an influence on experimental rockers.

8. The Carpenters, "We’ve Only Just Begun": While not exacly a rock act, Karen and Richard dominated the Top 40 during the ’70’s. Karen was trending on Twitter yesterday when someone asked "Name a singer with the most beautiful voice ever." She was also a hell of a drummer and could play the bass as well.

9. Harry Chapin, "Taxi": I remember the first time I heard "Taxi." I came home from school one afternoon and put the radio on, and it was the first full song that played. I just sat there and listened… He wasn’t just singing a song, he was telling a story. He did that maybe better than anyone.

10. Chubby Checker, "The Twist": Now, come on… if there’s one person on this list who deserves to be in the RRHOF, it’s Chubby Checker. He taught us how to dance to rock & roll with "The Twist" and "Pony Time."

Which of these artists would you most like to see in the RRHOF?

Once again, I’m the guest conductor for this ride through the annals of music, although I can’t post the Linky for it. So, take a trip over to one of the sponsors listed below to join the Linky or to see who’s participating.

That’s Monday’s Music Moves Me for May 9, 2022.

It’s a new month, and guess who your guest conductor is?

I can’t show the Linky on my page, so when you’re through putting your post together, go here and add your name to it, along with the address of your post. That’s if you’re doing MMMM or are posting music, otherwise Cathy will banish you from the Linky and make cruel sport of you. Or, better yet, go to Alana’s, Cathy’s, or Stacy’s blog, where they’ll have the Linky on display. Okay? Okay!

So, yesterday was May 1, called May Day unless you’re Catholic, in which case it was the Feast of St. Joseph The Worker (actually, it was the Third Sunday of Easter; if yesterday was not a Sunday…. never mind). My theme was, therefore, work songs. Here are ten I dug up, trying hard not to use ones I had before (well….).

And that’s Monday’s Music Moves Me for May 2, 2022.

Just looked at the clock, and it’s just after 5 Eastern time! Sorry, I got lost listening to some great guitar players on YouTube. I’ll be featuring guitar players that impress me on the next few months because, yeah! there are some absolutely fantastic players out there!

Alip Ba Ta is a young Indonesian guitarist who does ssome incredible playing. There’s not a lot more that he’s shared about himself, but he does have Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok, and you can hear him on Spotify, Apple Music, and Audius (which is a new one on me). There’s a lot of him on YouTube; here are ten songs.

1. Ngopi Pagi (Morning Coffee)
2. Balinese
3. Bintang Kecil (Little Star)
4. Ibu Pertiwi (Motherland)
5. Instya Allah (God Willing)
6. Cinta Tak Terpisahkan (Inseparable Love)
7. Gerimis Mengundang (Drizzle Invites)
8. Kangen (Miss)
9. Sempurna (Perfect)
10. Saat Terakhir (The Last Moment)

Several of these are covers by unfamiliar artists. He also has done a few covers of Queen, Celine Dion, and others.

Check out Alip Ba Ta when you get a chance!

So this month’s guest conductor, Alana, says "In honor of Pet Owners Independence Day, let’s use songs with these in the title or band name  dogs, cats, birds, or pets in general." Fair enough. Here are ten. Some may be a little borderline…

1. Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band, "I’m The Urban Spaceman"
2. Bent Fabric, "Alley Cat"
3. Crazy Elephant, "Gimme Gimme Good Lovin’"
4. The Trashmen, "Surfin’ Bird"
5. Henry Mancini, "baby Elephant Walk"
6. Allan Sherman, "The Bronx Bird Watcher"
7. Big Mama Thornton, "You Ain’t Nothin’ But A Hound Dog"
8. Al Wilson, "The Snake"
9. The Beatles, "Rocky Raccoon"
10. Stray Cats, "Rock This Town"

And that’s Monday’s Music Moves Me for April 18, 2022.