In Concert: The Jayhawks

image from kansascity.com

Venue: Knuckleheads Saloon; Kansas City, MO

Opening Act: Folk Uke

The Set List:

1. Waiting for the Sun ³
2. Leaving the Monsters Behind ⁹
3. Somewhere in Ohio ⁶
4. Stumbling Through the Dark ⁷
5. Lovers of the Sun ⁹
6. Save It for a Rainy Day ⁷
7. Pretty Roses in Your Hair ⁹
8. Nothing Left to Borrow ⁴
9. Comeback Kids ⁹
10. Bottomless Cup ⁵
11. Blue ⁴
12. Ace ⁹
13. Tampa to Tulsa ⁷
14. Quiet Corners and Empty Spaces ⁹
15. All the Right Reasons ⁷
16. The Devil in Her Eyes ⁹
17. I’d Run Away ⁴

Encore:

18. Settled Down Like Rain ³
19. Angelyne ⁷
20. I’ll Be Your Key ⁹
21. I’m Gonna Make You Love Me ⁶
22. Tailspin ⁷
23. Bad Time ⁴

The Jayhawks' Discography:

¹ The Jayhawks (1986)
² Blue Earth (1989)
³ Hollywood Town Hall (1992)
⁴ Tomorrow the Green Grass (1995)
⁵ Sound of Lies (1997)
⁶ Smile (2000)
⁷ Rainy Day Music (2003)
⁸ Mockingbird Time (2011)
⁹ Paging Mr. Prous (2016)

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The Top 100 Broadway Songs

Broadway: Top 100 Songs

Since the early part of the 20th century, musicals have fueled American music with some of its most beloved standards. In the first half of the 1900’s, many pop hits were recordings of songs which had originated on the Broadway stage. What follows is a list of the top 100 Broadway songs, as determined by an aggregate of 34 Broadway song collections and best-of lists. The show and the year of its stage premiere are listed after each song. Click here to see other genre-specific song lists. 1. Memory (Cats, 1981) 2. Ol’ Man River (Show Boat, 1927) 3. Some Enchanted Evening (South Pacific, 1949) 4. Tonight (West Side Story, 1957) 5. If I Were a Rich Man (Fiddler on the Roof, 1964) 6. You’ll Never Walk Alone (Carousel, 1945) 7. Send in the Clowns (A Little Night Music, 1973) 8. Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin’ (Oklahoma!, 1943) 9. Seasons of Love (Rent, 1996) 10. What I Did for Love (A Chorus Line, 1975) 11. The Sound of Music (The Sound of Music, 1959) 12. If I Loved You (Carousel, 1945) 13. On the Street Where You Live (My Fair Lady, 1956) 14. All That Jazz (Chicago, 1975) 15. Don’t Cry for Me Argentina (Evita, 1978) 16. The Impossible Dream (Man of La Mancha, 1965) 17. I Don’t Know How to Love Him (Jesus Christ Superstar, 1971) 18. Aquarius (Hair, 1967) 19. I Dreamed a Dream (Les Miserables, 1985) 20. Tomorrow (Annie, 1977) 21. Cabaret (Cabaret, 1966) 22. Defying Gravity (Wicked, 2003) 23. Bewitched, Bothered, & Bewildered (Pal Joey, 1940) 24. The Music of the Night (The Phantom of the Opera, 1986) 25. I Could Have Danced All Night (My Fair Lady, 1956) 26. Climb Ev’ry Mountain (The Sound of Music, 1959) 27. My Favorite Things The Sound of Music, 1959) 28. Till There Was You (The Music Man, 1957) 29. My Funny Valentine (Babes in Arms, 1937) 30. Somewhere (West Side Story, 1957) 31. Oklahoma! (Oklahoma!, 1943) 32. On My Own (Les Miserables, 1985) 33. There’s No Business Like Show Business (Annie Get Your Gun, 1946) 34. I Got Rhythm (Girl Crazy, 1930) 35. Luck Be a Lady (Guys and Dolls, 1950) 36. Put on a Happy Face (Bye Bye Birdie, 1960) 37. Seventy-Six Trombones (The Music Man, 1957) 38. Getting to Know You (The King and I, 1951) 39. Can You Feel the Love Tonight? (The Lion King, 1997) 40. The Time Warp (The Rocky Horror Picture Show, 1973) 41. Hello, Dolly! (Hello, Dolly!, 1964) 42. Do-Re-Mi (The Sound of Music, 1959) 43. Sunrise, Sunset (Fiddler on the Roof, 1964) 44. Day by Day (Godspell, 1971) 45. Shall We Dance? (The King and I, 1951) 46. Can’t Help Lovin’ Dat Man (Show Boat, 1927) 47. If Ever I Would Leave You (Camelot, 1960) 48. The Party’s Over (Bells Are Ringing, 1956) 49. Smoke Gets in Your Eyes (Roberta, 1933) 50. As Long As He Needs Me (Oliver!, 1960) image from the odysseyonline.com 51. All the Things You Are (Very Warm for May, 1939) 52. Summertime (Porgy and Bess, 1935) 53. Circle of Life (The Lion King, 1997) 54. Everything’s Coming Up Roses (Gypsy, 1959) 55. Written in the Stars (Aida, 1999) 56. One (Singular Sensation) (A Chorus Line, 1975) 57. Someone to Watch Over Me (Oh, Kay!, 1926) 58. You’re the Top (Anything Goes, 1934) 59. Maria (West Side Story, 1957) 60. I Love Paris (Can-Can, 1953) 61. Hello, Young Lovers (The King and I, 1951) 62. New York, New York (On the Town, 1944) 63. Almost Like Being in Love (Brigadoon, 1947) 64. I Get a Kick Out of You (Anything Goes, 1935) 65. The Lady Is a Tramp (Babes in Arms, 1937) 66. People Will Say We’re in Love (Oklahoma!, 1943) 67. Once in Love with Amy (Where’s Charley?, 1948) 68. Maybe This Time (Cabaret, 1966) 69. You Can’t Stop the Beat (Hairspray, 2002) 70. Falling in Love with Love (The Boys from Syracuse, 1938) 71. Superstar (Jesus Christ Superstar, 1971) 72. Comedy Tonight (A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, 1962) 73. This Is the Moment (Jekyll and Hyde, 1997) 74. People (Funny Girl, 1964) 75. The Flesh Failures/Let the Sunshine In (Hair, 1964) 76. All I Ask of You (The Phantom of the Opera, 1986) 77. Over the Rainbow (The Wizard of Oz, movie: 1939) 78. Edelweiss (The Sound of Music, 1959) 79. Wouldn’t It Be Loverly (My Fair Lady, 1956) 80. Try to Remember (The Fantastics, 1960) 81. Mack the Knife (The Threepenny Opera, 1928) 82. Younger Than Springtime (South Pacific, 1949) 83. Bill (Show Boat, 1927) 84. Summer Nights (Grease, 1972) 85. Hernando’s Hideaway (The Pajama Game, 1954) 86. June Is Bustin’ Out All Over (Carousel, 1945) 87. On a Clear Day You Can See Forever (On a Clear Day You Can See Forever, 1965) 88. I Enjoy Being a Girl (Flower Drum Song, 1958) 89. This Can’t Be Love (The Boys from Syracuse, 1938) 90. The Phantom of the Opera (The Phantom of the Opera, 1986) 91. So in Love (Kiss Me, Kate, 1948) 92. Camelot (Camelot, 1960) 93. Where or When (Babes in Arms, 1937) 94. Close Every Door (Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dream Coat, 1972) 95. For Good (Wicked, 2003) 96. There’s a Small Hotel (On Your Toes, 1936) 97. Wheels of a Dream (Ragtime, 1996) 98. Springtime for Hitler (The Producers, 2001) 99. Beauty and the Beast (Beauty and the Beast, 1998) 100. It’s a Hard-Knock Life (Annie, 1977) Resources and Related Links: Dave’s Music Database: “Other Genre/Category Song Lists” First posted 6/27/2016.

50 years ago: The Beatles hit #1 with “Paperback Writer”

Paperback Writer The Beatles

Writer(s): John Lennon, Paul McCartney (see lyrics here) Released: May 30, 1966 First Charted: June 11, 1966 Peak: 12 US, 12 CB, 11 GR, 11 HR, 1 CL, 12 UK, 11 CN, 11 AU, 1 DF (Click for codes to charts.) Sales (in millions): 1.0 US, -- UK Airplay/Streaming (in millions): 1.0 radio, 33.0 video, -- streaming

Awards: Click on award for more details.

About the Song: At the time that “Paperback Writer” ascended to the pinnacle of the United States’ Billboard Hot 100, that chart was eighteen years old. The song leapt into the pole position from #15. The only song to make a bigger jump was the Beatles’ “Can’t Buy Me Love” from #27 to #1. FB This was the Beatles’ first chart topper not about love. SF Paul’s Auntie Lil had been challenging him to “write a song that wasn’t about love.” SF This “was a throwback to the Beatles’ early work as it is based upon their love of Chuck Berry.” KL However, the storytelling “is very much in the style that Paul McCartney was developing. It is an unusual composition” KL “sung from the perspective of an author soliciting a publisher.” SF While fictional, Paul was thinking of the beat poet Royston Ellis, who taught the Beatles how “to get high on Vick inhalers,” KL and author Martin Amis, “whom he had just developed a passion for.” SF He was also thinking of some of his friends, including John Dunbar, who’d he’d just help set up the Indica Bookshop. It was housed in the basement of the Indica Gallery, where bandmate John Lennon would meet future wife Yoko Ono. SF Paul may have also been teasing John, who dismissed the song as “son of ‘Day Tripper.’” KL John published his own books of poetry and stories with In His Own Write and A Spaniard in the Works. KL “Paperback Writer” became the theme song for the BBC series, Read All About It. KL In the UK, the ad to promote the single was the infamous “butcher cover,” a shot of the Beatles holding parts of dolls covered in blood. It was used initially as the cover for the U.S. album Yesterday…and Today SF The controversial cover “caused a wave of protest and…was quickly withdrawn.” FB However, it became a collectors’ item when Capitol Records simply pasted a replacement photo over some of the original pressings. FB Resources: DMDB encyclopedia entry for the Beatles FB Fred Bronson (2003). The Billboard Book of Number One Hits (5th edition). Billboard Books: New York, NY. KL Jon Kutner and Spencer Leigh (2005). 1000 UK Number One Hits: The Stories Behind Every Number One Single Since 1952. London, Great Britain: Omnibus Press. Page 123. SF Songfacts Related Links: First posted 3/27/2022; last updated 7/13/2023.

Twenty One Pilots “Heathens” released

Heathens Twenty One Pilots

Writer(s): Tyler Joseph (see lyrics here) Released: June 16, 2016 First Charted: July 9, 2016 Peak: 2 BB, 25 AC, 2 A40, 20 AR, 111 MR, 5 UK, 3 CN, 3 AU, 12 DF (Click for codes to charts.) Sales (in millions): 10.0 US, 1.2 UK, 13.93 world (includes US + UK) Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 2211.15 video, 1719.55 streaming

Awards: Click on award for more details.

About the Song: Twenty One Pilots initially formed as an alternative rock trio in 2009 in Columbus, Ohio. They self-released two albums before two members left in 2011. Lead singer Tyler Joseph recruited drummer Josh Dun and the duo released their major label debut, Vessel, in 2013. That album achieved double platinum success, but its follow-up, 2015’s Blurryface, was even more successful. It sold five million copies and reached #1. It generated two top-five hits on the Billboard Hot 100 with “Stressed Out” and “Ride.” At the height of their success, they contributed the “eerie song” SF “Heathens” to the soundtrack for the 2016 movie Suicide Squad, based on the DC Comics antihero team. The song was released as the lead single from the soundtrack and spent four weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 behind the Chainsmokers’ “Closer.” The video was set in a fictional DC Universe “high-security penitentiary that’s packed with the Suicide Squad cast.” SF Amanda Valentine, the stylist for Twenty One Pilots, said they wanted to pay tribute to Johnny Cash’s famous Folsom Prison performance. She said, “You can barely just make out the bolo tie.” SF Resources: DMDB encyclopedia entry for Twenty One Pilots SF Songfacts WK Wikipedia First posted 4/12/2024.

50 years ago: The Rolling Stones’ “Paint It Black” hit #1

Paint It Black The Rolling Stones

Writer(s): Mick Jagger, Keith Richards (see lyrics here) Released: May 7, 1966 First Charted: May 14, 1966 Peak: 12 US, 11 CB, 11 HR, 1 CL, 11 UK, 11 CN, 13 AU, 1 DF (Click for codes to singles charts.) Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 188.0 video, 641.81 streaming

Awards: Click on award for more details.

About the Song: This was the sixth #1 hit for the Rolling Stones in the UK and their third in the United States. The song was featured on the U.S. version of Aftermath and the UK version of the Big Hits (High Tides and Green Grass) compilation. The song “broke free of the blues and R&B influences” AMG of previous hits, showcasing singer Mick Jagger and guitarist Keith Richards as “versatile, growing writers who could compete head-to-head with the best rock composers of the era, such as their chief rivals, the Beatles, of course.” AMG The song holds the distinction as the first number-one hit to feature a sitar WK and “perhaps the most effective use of the Indian instrument in a rock song.” AMG Brian Jones started exploring eastern instruments out of frustration from being overshadowed by Jagger and Richards. WK Jones used the sitar to arrange the basic arrangements for “Paint It Black” after a discussion with George Harrison, who had recently used the sitar on the Beatles’ “Norwegian Wood.” WK It may have been Jones’ “greatest musical achievement,” AMG but he got no songwriting credit for it. Richards explained that Jones never presented a finished song to the group, hence his omission from the credits. SF The intent of the song lyrically was to use color-based metaphors to describe the grief one suffers after the loss of a spouse or partner, WK reportedly inspired by the death of a former girlfriend of Jagger’s. AMG There are also claims Jagger drew on the 1922 novel Ulysses by James Joyce and its themes of desperation and depression. WK Jagger explained that the song’s exploration of a character “so entrenched in his depression and rage that he has lost all hope” WK fit with the theme of Aftermath, where each song offered insight into “the darkness of his psyche.” WK When Jagger sings that he wants to “see the sun blotted out from the sky, [it is] surely one of the most despairing images in popular music.” AMG Amusingly, the song was originally released as “Paint It, Black.” The comma, however, was an error on the part of Decca Records and not meant to be part of the title. The incorrect title implied that a person named “Black” was being encouraged to do the painting. AMG Some fans interpreted it as a statement on racial relations. WK Resources: DMDB encyclopedia entry for The Rolling Stones AMG All Music Guide SF Songfacts WK Wikipedia Related Links: First posted 10/19/2020; last updated 11/3/2022.

Michael Franti Soul Rocker released

Soul Rocker Michael Franti & Spearhead

Released: June 3, 2016 Peak: 38 US, -- UK, 96 CN, 65 AU Sales (in millions): -- Genre: alternative rock

Tracks: Song Title [time] (date of single release, chart peaks) Click for codes to singles charts. Crazy for You [3:39] (5/8/17, --) My Lord [3:55] Get Myself to Saturday [4:18] Summertime Is in Our Hands [3:48] (5/27/17, 28 AC) We Are All Earthlings [3:44] Still Standing [3:46] Good to Be Alive Today [4:14] (5/29/16) My Favorite Wine Is Tequila [4:08] Once a Day [3:57] (6/22/15, 30 A40, 17 AA) We Do This Every Day [4:14] I Got Love for Ya [3:58] Do You Feel the Way That I Do? [4:56] Love Will Find a Way [3:42] (11/5/16, --) All songs written by Michael Franti. Total Running Time: 52:19

Rating: 3.952 out of 5.00 (average of 11 ratings) Awards: (Click on award to learn more).

About the Album: A reviewer on Amazon called Michael Franti “the Bob Marley of our times,” AZ praising him a “a champion for peace, love, veterans, and all ‘earthlings’ in general.” AZ Another reviewer said, “there’s really NOTHING that can compare to a live Michael Franti and Spearhead show. You will leave that show a better person. You will want to help others. You will want to make a difference in the world.” AZ I saw him in concert for the first time in the summer of 2017 when he was supporting the Soul Rocker album. The reviewers on Amazon nailed it. Michael Franti is a modern-day Bob Marley, desperately trying to bring the world together through his message of peace in his music and the communal spirit of his concerts. It is the best show I’ve ever seen. The album is stocked with songs begging to be played in front of an audience. My Favorite Wine Is Tequila has a definite party vibe. It “may go the full Jimmy Buffett, but a classic, vintage reggae sample makes it the right kind of cheeky.” AMG Get Myself to Saturday showcases “honest and vulnerable lyrics coming from a man who kicked off his career with the political attack squads the Beatnigs and the Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy.” AMG Franti is also a consummate activist using his songs to spotlight various causes. He somehow manages, however, to keep the atmosphere light and fun instead of preachy. “We Are All Earthlings is like a Greenpeace sticker plastered over a Recycle sticker stuck on a flyer for clean water, and Franti covers the same ground (grew up confused, got mad at the world, then things got better) on a couple autobiographical songs.” AMG Perhaps no song showcases Franti’s message of peace and love more than Once a Day. The lyrics have a positive, hippy vibe that dares the listener not to sing along: “Everybody oughta hug somebody, at least once a day / And everybody oughta kiss somebody, at least once a day / Everybody’s gonna miss somebody, at least once a day / And everybody gotta love somebody, every day.” Franti seamlessly melds multiple genres together, tapping into reggae, hip-hop, alternative rock, and even electronica. My Lord, a “chugging EDM-meets-rootsy-music tune.” AMG “Bright dance music is an easy fit” AMG for Franti considering how much he is “aiming for a crowd singing in unison.” AMG “If the strings on Love Will Find a Way are synthetic, the song and the performance are still angelic, connecting immediately and giving Franti his own ‘Redemption Song.’” AMG The album is “inspired, warm, and inviting, plus in parts, it is diminutive in the best sense of the word.” AMG

Resources and Related Links: DMDB encyclopedia entry for Michael Franti Dave’s Music Database (7/11/2017). “In Concert: Michael Franti & Spearhead” AMG All Music Guide review by David Jeffries AZ Amazon WK Wikipedia First posted 8/20/2021; last updated 2/5/2022.