#FridayFind | Bruce Hornsby & the Range – Mandolin Rain

Bruce Hornsby's hits definitely evoke a sort of hokey early alt-country fused with pop music. And yet, he remained in loyal to his hardcore fans. Over the course of roughly 18 albums in various incarnations of bands he's fronted too. So respected was he, across the musical spectrum, he even played 100 shows with the Grateful Dead. Songs like "Mandolin Rain" definitely come off cheesy, but multi-layered. One cannot ignore the musicality as well...

Suicide Squad Rolls Out the “Ballroom Blitz”

It's becoming increasingly clear that Superhero films can go one of two ways: The first option is a pure tentpole flick that will cater to the broadest audience possible with the already established and recognizable brands the likes of Spiderman, X-Men and the Avengers (for Marvel) and Superman, Wonder Woman and the Justice League for DC Comics. The second option is more niche, a little darker and much more adult. This was a trend that started...

#FridayFind | Marvelous 3 – Freak of the Week

"Tell me I've sold out / Tell me I've sold out go ahead" Okay Butch, you sold out. But it's okay. You left us this wonderful nugget, this pop-punk singalong anthem. The Marvelous 3 was the short-lived brainchild of Butch Walker (Lead Singer/Guitarist), Doug Mitchell (Drums), and bassist Jayce Fincher. With this scream-along chorus, you know during their short tenure, a bunch of kids crowd surfed, skanked and slam-danced to this song on many...

#FridayFind | Midnight Oil – “Beds Are Burning”

This song should not have been a hit. There, I said it. This song is a sort of anthem... for paying your rent? By Australians? In a bizarre chorus that I can only imagine is two roommates arguing about the world at large ("How can we dance when the earth is turning?/How do we sleep while our beds are burning?") and their unpaid rent. At the very least one of them turns out to be the voice of reason! Digging deeper, it actually turns out to be a...

#SundaySubmission | @thatrobguy’s Guilty Pleasures of the 70s

Our very first submission comes by way of Rob Wolf, the Director of Social Media for Microsoft. His guilty pleasure journey started at a young age as his first two concerts were Donnie & Marie and Barry Manilow respectively. But even to this day, it's all about "unabashed joy" for music as he puts it. He shares, "We're all so damn cool these days, that no one can picture themselves just letting loose with a song and busting out onto the...

#FridayFind | Robyn – Show Me Love

"Show Me Love", the 1997 hit that Robyn penned with Swedish hit-maker Max Martin ("...Baby One More Time") was a track off her debut album "Robyn is Here". My girlfriend at the time had the CD and would repeatedly play it in her bedroom after school while we'd hang out. I didn't realize it at the time, but this song would earworm it's way into my heart. Today, Robyn has moved from Britney Spears territory into a firm Kylie Minogue-like existence...

Guilty Album | New Radicals: Maybe You’ve Been Brainwashed Too

"Make my nipples hard, let's go!" I have no clue which back-up singer said this to Gregg Alexander while recording his only studio release Maybe You've Been Brainwashed Too (1999), but it completely sets the tone for the entire record. I bought this CD at a K-Mart knockoff store in my hometown merely because of the one-hit wonder "You Get What You Give". And make no mistake, I firmly expected it to be a $15 single. I had no idea the riches that...

#FridayFind | ELO – Don’t Bring Me Down

Who would've thought Jeff Lyne's biggest hit in the U.S. would be the song he dedicated to NASA's Skylab Space Station? A looped drum sample from "On the Run" is the backbone for this clap-inducing tune. The album "Discovery" in 1979 was definitely where the band pushed wholeheartedly from orchestral space pop into pure disco territory. A few tunes of theirs leaned disco including "Evil Woman" (1975 - Face the Music) and "Livin' Thing" (1976 - A...