LISTENING TO MODERN POP AND BLUES: MARCH 2026

 

Yes, I watched The Beatles on the Sullivan show. At 15 years-old, I was already into their music. But by then, I was also into all forms of modern popular music, from Dion and the Belmonts to the Temps and the Tops. And 60 years later, the sounds of that era remain the mainstay of my listening enjoyment. Truth be told, my tastes run to the music of the late 60s to the mid 70s. And I kept up for awhile. I bought vinyl. After a while, CDs. But eventually disco and glam rock and punk took their toll on me. So while I occasionally found new pop and rock tunes/bands of interest, I almost always fell back on my old favorites - Linda and Joni and the Airplane and Little Feat and Bonnie and CSNY. You get the picture.

The manner in which I consume music has changed over these many years. I don't by albums or CDs. I stream. YouTube and Spotify are my friends. And YouTube in particular is more than happy to recommend artists for me to stream. Among videos that the algorithm thinks that I would like to watch are recommendations to listen to Reaction Videos, young folks one-third my age discovering that SRV could play guitar and Linda had one heckuva voice. I've explained all of this in a previous 'This and That' post. I said that I would start creating Reaction Videos of my own and eventually post a few. Well, here's a sampling. I really like Billy Strings. I kinda like Billie Eilish. I didn't particularly like Chappel Roan. My rave about Raye was too big to upload. But listen for yourself. Here's the LINK to my YouTube channel. Subscribe, s'il vous plait. The algorithm likes it when you Subscribe.

Billy Strings - Cocaine Blues

 

Billie Eilish - Wildflower
 

Chappel Roan - Good Luck, Babe!

IS IT JUST ME, OR...?

 ...do people not realize that reckless endangerment is not a Constitutional right? Folks from both ends of the political spectrum are upset at the 'loss of rights' during the current pandemic. If you want to surf off a deserted beach by yourself, why should the Gestapo try to stop you? Because if you get into trouble, dummy, some poor EMT might get COVID-19 trying to save your sorry ass, that's why.

...on the other side of the coin, are the people who demand that everyone stay indoors all of the time being unreasonable too? People who suffer from depression don't need you to tell them to just get over it. If they could, they would. So they need to keep busy. They need to garden, to DIY, to do stuff that might mean that they need to go shopping. Same with folks fighting an addiction. Stay the fuck at home, yes. But don't judge those who have needs that you may not understand. You'll go to the pharmacy for the sake of your health. Other people may have other needs.

 ...did you not chuckle, just a little, when Malwarebytes announced that malware and viruses on Macs now outpace Windows? 400% increase in attacks between 2018 and 2019. Yes, it did take a while for the myth of invulnerability to lose traction. But if you thought that your Mac was inherently safe, it's time to think again.

 ...has our culture been muddied to such an extent that only penalty for the baseball sign-stealing antics of the Houston Astros will be a paltry fine and that's it? If those involved in illegally determining the outcome of the games in which they played are not suspended indefinite!y, why is Pete Rose, who never bet on a game in which he participated and therefore never tried to determine an outcome, still an anathema to the Commissioner and banned from HOF consideration? Hypocrisy at the highest level.

...was Billie Eilish's version of Yesterday at the Oscars completely unlistenable? I couldn't get through the quavering, the tortured facial expressions. She may be the next big thing, but she's just a kid really, and that may insulate her from criticism. Check out the video. Cringe worthy. She has since been quoted as saying that she was intimidated by all of stars in the audience and that affected her performance. Maybe, there's still hope.