Two Fer Thursday - 50 Rock and Roll Songs

Did you ever get an idea to do something and after you did it wondered why you did? Two Fer Thursday - 50 Rock and Roll Songs is a perfect example of me doing just that. Having just read, "To Air Is Human", I visited You Tube to listen to some of the songs mentioned in the book. "Two Fer Thursday" popped into my mind and the next thing you know, I think: Aha! Article! Shoot me. I did it; here it is:

"We're living here in Allentown, they're tearing all the factories down" Billy Joel crooned. I often wondered how Joel would write a song about a dying town; like, who ever heard of Allentown? He does perform live concerts in the area, so perhaps that is why he wrote about that particular city, that could be any city, USA. How I happened to be living there in Allentown takes a bit of telling and has nothing to do with Two Fer Thursday - 50 Rock and Roll Songs. One of the things about Allentown that Billy Joel did not sing about was the lack of variety in available radio stations. That is how I happened to often~like almost every day~listen to a Classic Rock radio station. Thursdays were "two fer" days. Two fer were double-play flashbacks or two songs from the same artist played back to back without interuption.

Classic Rock music skipped right over the 1950s and included little of the 1960s. Except, of course the Stones. It has been a while since I listened to that station, thus I can not say with any accuracy, but I do believe they did not play the Beatles and what could be considered more classic than that? I could be wrong. I actually still have an old cassette tape recorded from the station playing John Lennon's Christmas song. Anyway, here is the list I made of my Two FerThursday songs. It is 50 Rock and Roll songs, because I made it an A-Z list, minus the X.

AC/DC - Back In Black - screaming rock at it's finest
Dirty Deeds, Done Dirt Cheap - when wasted we do sing along

Bon Jovi - Living on a Prayer -like the lyrics
You Give Love A Bad Name - it rocks

Creedence Clearwater Revival - Looking Out My Back Door - Southern Rock?
Travelin' Band - took lessons from Little Richard, perhaps

Def Leppard - Rock of Ages - homage to rock & roll
Poor Some Sugar On Me - classic rock

Electric Light Orchestra - Evil Woman - a classic tune
Hold On Tight - almost 1950s rock & roll sound with an edge

Foreigner - Urgent - it rocks
Cold As Ice - just like it

Guns & Roses - Knocking on Heaven's Door - are not we all
Welcome To The Jungle - "The only performance that makes it, that really makes it, that makes it all the way, is the one that achieves madness, right?" Mick Jagger

Hall & Oates - Maneater - classic soft rock, music sounds like old Motown, Supremes
Rich Girl - more of the same

INXS - Devil Inside - hard driving rock
What You Need - sax solo's almost a rip of Jr. Walker & the Allstars' songs

J Geils Band - Love Stinks - like the lyrics, almost a rap
Freeze Frame - gotta get up and dance

Kenny Rogers - Coward of the County - sometimes you have to fight to be a woman
The Gambler - sage advice and every person's desire

Led Zeppelin - Whole Lotta Love - there was a time when this sound was new
Black Dog - chaotic rock

Mike & the Mechanics - All I Need Is A Miracle - good beat, easy to dance to
Taken In - soft, slow rock, like the lyrics

Nirvana - No Apologies - slow, hypnotic rock
Come As You Are - it is the only other Nirvana song I know

Ohio Players - Fire - rock with a lot of funk
Skin Tight - ditto

Pat Benetar - Hit Me With Your Best Shot - classic rock & roll
Love Is A Battlefield - softer sound

Queen - We Will Rock You - it rocks
Somebody To Love - slow rock that gets quiet, builds to frenzy before it slows down again

REM - Drive - seems too slow to be rock, but rather unique approach to a song
It's The End of the World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine) - new classic rock

Santana - Evil Ways - classic rock
Oye Como Va - ditto

Talking Heads - And She Was - dance with eyes closed music
Once In A Lifetime - take away the lyrics and you have some great music, but ya wanna hear the lyrics and watch the video

U2 - New Years Day - more new classic rock
Pride - incessant drum seems to dominate this song, and yet the strings seem to dominate at the same time

Van Halen - Jump - liked the video, 'cause I like to jump around
Why Can't This Be Love? - classic rock

War - Spill The Wine - classic rock
Low Rider - Latin beat?

ZZ Top - Sharp Dressed Man - it rocks
Legs - Would I even listen to the guys if it were not for their sharp vehicle?

Postscript: After viewing 50+ You Tube videos of old rock 'n roll, I realized why, when people ask me what kind of music I listen to, I always say: smooth Jazz. Every generation's lament to the youngsters: this is not music, it is noise! Some of it does hurt my ears.