The Car Tunes Edition
Even though it’s a 2002 model, my new car doesn’t have a CD player. Base models only came with a cassette player, which was a bit of an insult even in 2002. For the first month or so I listened to the radio. Mostly 98.5 The Sports Hub. I love Toucher and Rich. This morning they challenged Deadspin editor A.J. Daulario to name all the members of the ’80s hair-band Cinderella, and then mocked him when he couldn’t remember the bassist’s name. What does that have to do with sports? Not a thing, but they freely admit that they barely know anything about sports, so their extended non-sports-related tangents are the most entertaining parts of the show.
Anyway. After dinner on Thanksgiving day Lisa and I were chatting with her brother and he mentioned that she still had several cassette cases stashed under the bed in her old room. Bingo! After she dusted them off we rummaged through them and mocked her musical taste. Donna Summer? Really?
I picked out the best ones for myself. Now my car is like a rolling music museum with a soundtrack straight outta Dazed and Confused. Aerosmith’s first album? I got it. Frampton Comes Alive? Better fuckin’ believe it. Led Zeppelin? “Could I interest you in something from Presence, sir?”
I still listen to The Sports Hub, but the addition of these tunes has made my car a whole lot cooler:
“(I Know) I’m Losing You” by Rod Stewart from Every Picture Tells A Story
If you still don’t think that Rod Stewart was a brilliant singer then this should be all the proof you need. Care to name a better Motown cover? Yeah, I thought so.
“Show Me The Way” by Peter Frampton from Frampton Comes Alive
Ugh! The Talk Box was the Auto Tune of the ’70s: annoying, ubiquitous and distracting. Frampton’s reliance on it is puzzling because he really is a great and lyrical guitarist. I’ll chalk it up to youthful immaturity only because I like this song. “Do You Feel Like We Do” gets no such pass.
“No Quarter” by Led Zeppelin from Houses Of The Holy
This gets the nod (just barely) over “The Song Remains The Same” because it has such a badass main riff. Plus, kudos to John Paul Jones for the spookiest electric piano sound ever. Actually, there’s a lot of weird sounds floating around in this tune. Check out all the distorted counter-melodies in the guitar solo. It’s little things like that that keep me playing this over and over.