Well my friends… After that last personally revealing blog, I thought it best to lighten up the mood a little with a topic that has been rattling around in my puny little brain for a couple years now. I offer a question that helps to define who we are as individuals, or at least where our musical preferences lie. Ready? Here goes nuthin: (Yes I know that wasn’t a word)

If you were stranded on a desert island for the rest of your life and you only had one song available to listen to, what would that one song be? It doesn’t play endlessly like you’re stuck in an elevator with that song on a loop, but if you wanted music, this is what you’ll hear. You get the idea.

It’s a small rip off interview question from the Stephen Colbert show but I liked that introspective exercise. Of course I have to expand on that analysis before I answer the question otherwise this would be a pretty short blog. To begin, I thought I would list my top 15 favorite tracks with a short explanation as to why they are on the list, and then eventually strike entries off that list to narrow it all down to one answer. It’s a fun little analysis that I hope you try yourself because it really does force you to evaluate which songs truly resonate with you, or at least which songs fit your particular preferred internal groove. For me, the final answer was unexpected and impractical but I don’t ever seem to get sick of it.

US/Canada AM Radio

To begin, we have to go back to the late 60’s and early 70’s when I started actually listening to AM radio and the pre-stereo days of broadcast music. Living in Detroit rather close to the water boundary between the US and Canada, I would always tune into CKLW radio from Windsor, Ontario which funny enough, always played the hits from Motown from across the river. That’s where we’ll start this list. Buckle up… I picture people nodding their heads in agreement and the same number of people shaking their heads to indicate I’m full of bovine scat.

Al Green – “Let’s stay together”. I have to say that I was never a die hard Beatles fan, or at least not indoctrinated into the late 60’s UK band invasion mania. Why would I be when Motown was alive and well and pounding out great hits in my own back yard. I know Al Green was based out of Memphis, but his music was heavily featured here in Detroit and it was awesome. Soulful, great lyrics and that brass section punching up the beat. What a historic sound and a memorable track.

Aretha Franklin – “Rock Steady”. I know there are other great Queen of Soul choices to pick from here, but this early track with Bernard Purdy on the drums is a classic, hard driving and soulful song. Purdy’s classic shuffle is featured on the song and the 3 high hat accents he adds during a short solo at the break always gets me. “Rock steady, baby. That’s what I’m talking about”.

Elton John – “Your Song”. EJ started to get a lot of play in the 70’s on local radio too, but his sound was different and so were his lyrics. More so about story telling than anything else, Elton’s words seemed to resonate with me even though I was still wiping my early teenage nose on my shirt sleeves. At some point I learned that using a tissue was more socially acceptable. Tiny Dancer almost made the list but I had to pick one and this was it.

Ramsey Lewis – “Rocky Raccoon”. I guess a Beatles tune does make my list, but only in the form of a jazz pianist doing a pretty kick ass musical version of the song without any lyrics. The intro to the track is pretty amazing as the drums start a beat you can’t identify at first. It’s a fantastic orchestration of this melody. If you’ve never heard of the artist or the song, do yourself a favor and bring it up on YouTube.

Led Zeppelin – “The Ocean”. I guess my musical tastes run wide from Jazz and Soul to harder flavors of rock, but hey, I’m a puzzle. I love a number of odd time signature songs from Zep but The Ocean is still a go to track if I need to get the Led out. Others run a close second choice like the classic When the Levee Breaks, but this is my pick.

The Who – “Eminence Front”. I admit I am not a huge crazy fan of The Who, even though my mother helped sneak me into the theater for an original screening of “Tommy” way back in my early teenage days, but the opening synthesizer groove to Eminence Front gets me every time. It’s the television movie equivalent of a “remote drop” when I hear this song come up on the radio. “Sun shines…people forget”. Not me.

Steely Dan – “Pretzel Logic”. Since my musical radio roots featured soul and jazz a lot, Steely Dan was a natural favorite of mine with their jazz/rock fusion sound. With more vinyl from this band sitting in my record collection than any other band, it was hard to pick a single song here too but the weird lyrics and the groove of this song get me every time. Another remote drop moment for me. “I’ve never met Napoleon, but I plan to find the time”.

The Eagles / Joe Walsh – “Those Shoes”. Limiting my choice to one from this band or more specifically Joe Walsh kinda pisses me off because I love some of Joe’s other more solo efforts like Funk 49 and Rocky Mountain Way. Having said that, this particular song and that back beat are as hard driving as you would want, and Joe’s mastery of different guitar effects fills my ear worm’s needs every time. Perhaps one of the most under rated solo rock guitarists ever (much like Alex Lifeson).

Rush – “YYZ”. Yeah, I know but now we’re talking about Geddy, Alex and Neal. Why am I not picking one of this legendary Canadian band’s greatest hits? Because there were too many, especially with all the air play they got here in the Detroit area, thanks to Canadian radio introducing us early to this band. But, YYZ is an instrumental with a hidden airport meaning to the title and the incorporation of Morse code to the beat. I love, I mean actually love the live version of this song performed in Rio de Janeiro. The insanely huge crowd actually tries to sing along with this instrumental. The video is nuts.

Yes – “Owner of a lonely heart”. An odd choice, maybe. But it has special significance for me. Without going in to a heavy explanation, it seemed that for a number of years in the 80’s whenever I had some stressful event coming up in my life, this song would hit the radio just before the event happened. It was always in my car as I drove to whatever this thing was. It calmed me down because there was a positive outcome experienced at those events each time. It became a lucky charm for me. If I heard that song pop up on radio, and yes I would channel flip like crazy looking for it, the outcome (like an important test or a job interview) always turned out positively. Thanks Ian!

Journey – “Dixie Highway”. Here’s another local connection to a song where Journey recorded this track live in Detroit and this is where I-75 or “The Dixie Highway” begins. It’s just a great live version of the song with a couple twists and turns in the speed of the song and the back beat. Creative and a great listen. Another remote drop moment if I catch this on radio.

Foreigner – “Hole in My Soul”. About as clean of a produced song as you’ll find with pleasant and memorable harmonies all throughout the song. Not a hard driver but not too soft of a ballad either it’s just one of my favorites from this band that never really got the recognition that other hits of theirs received. If you’ve never heard this one, check it out.

ZZ Top – “My Head’s in Mississippi”. Love the bearded ones and it was hard to pick a winner from this band too. La Grange is always at the top of most people’s lists and it’s at the top of mine too, but this one track seems to have the better set of rock lyrics. How can you not love a line like, “Last night I saw a naked cowgirl. She was floating across the ceiling. She was mumbling to some howling wolf about that voodoo healing”. C’mon, man. That’s a great line.

Cheryl Crow – “Steve McQueen”. Another song that didn’t really get the air play in our town, at least compared to other Cheryl Crow hit songs. I really like the whole vibe of this song and the vocal starts and stops mixed with the same stop and go momentum of the music. It’s a great track and a great rock song about one of my old action movie favorites.

Jane’s Addiction – “Jane Says”. There’s something about this song and the recurring acoustic guitar play from Dave Navarro. The story is gritty and the melodies and drum accents are complimentary to the lyrics in ways to make you sit up and take notice. I like “Been Caught Stealing” from these guys too, but “Jane Says” beats it out by just a little.

Degree of Difficulty

To pick only 15 songs forced me to leave out a ton of my favorite bands including a lot of jazz/fusion groups like Acoustic Alchemy, Herbie Hancock and the Manhattan Transfer, and even some bubble gum pop artists like Sugar Ray, Natasha Bedingfield, Madonna and Dave Matthews. Yes, I’m a fan of Nickleback too but I had to trim the list somehow, although a recent offering from them called “San Quentin” is a banger. And yes, I’m stalling because to select a single song to listen to the rest of my life is nearly impossible.

Having said all that I decided to select a track with strange lyrics but an unforgettable and complex musical backdrop. The best rendition of the song I’ve ever heard comes from a tribute band featuring one of the original artists leading on piano, played in a live setting. It also features Boz Skaggs on the guitar and vocals as well as Michael McDonald on piano and vocals and some great background singers filling in the harmonies. The selection? Pretzel Logic by Steely Dan performed by The Dukes of September featuring the original member, Donald Fagen.

It’s one of those songs you need to listen to more than once in order to pick up all the nuances in the lyrics so that you can tie it all back to the title. Yes I hear you… “You must be joking son, where did you get those shoes?” There you have it. My ride or die song. Thank God it wasn’t “Hey Micky” by Toni Basil.

“Oh Micky, you’re so fine, you’re so fine you blow my mind. Hey Micky”.

I think I’m gonna barf.