Tag Archives: music

The Song that Reminds Me of an Accident

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I have several songs that bring back specific memories. There is a song that takes me back to the night I was leaving Cincinnati for the last time and moving to Maryland. There are plenty of songs that take me back to various times and people from high school. Some songs will now always remind me of dad’s dance at my daughter’s dance recitals.  One song I heard last night, That’s All by Genesis, will always remind me of a minor car accident from my freshman year of high school.

I did not drive while I was in high school, so I spent every morning standing on Main Street waiting for the bus. I rode the bus the entire four years I was in high school. Obviously, this story takes place before I was legally able t drive anyway. I just thought I would try to get people to pity me for riding the bus. Anyway, this particular day I was standing on Main Street as usual. I’m pretty sure it was drizzling a little. I’m pretty sure that’s why someone pulled over and asked us if we wanted a ride to school. I can’t remember who it was. I didn’t know them. I think maybe my brother did. We said yes and piled into the car.

The first stop was at the middle school to dop of the younger kids. The high school and middle school had similar hours. We stopped in front of the middle school, dropped people off and then headed around the school to get to the high school next door to park and go to school. I guess the driver took the curve a little too fast, went off the road, hit the mud and started spinning. We spun around and ended with the car hitting the middle school. The middle school principal charged out and told all of us but the driver to go on to school. Leaving the scene of an accident is not something you should do, but when the principal told us to do it, we did.

I went to school and my first class was Biology(I think, Definitely science). For some reason, my teacher had been talking about a train crash. When the school office told him I was needed there to talk to the police he jokingly asked me if it was about the train accident. I told him close, but a car accident and headed out. The police questioned me about the speed around the curve I answered honestly that I had been in the back seat and looking down at my books to make sure I had my homework so I had no idea how fast we were going. That was the extent of the questioning.

It was a very minor event with no repercussions for me at all, but every time I hear the song That’s All, the song that was playing when it happened, I am taken back to that day.

Fake Back Stories For Some of My Fake Bands

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In a blogging group on Facebook Lorna from Gin & Lemonade suggested we post a link to our blog so others could read a few posts and suggest a topic. When I posted min she suggested I write about two of the bands on my fake band name post that is pinned to the top of my blog. I haven’t updated in a while, but it is where I list phrases I hear in life that I think would make a good band name. I never really thought about a story for the bands, but I will give it a try.  I will start with the two she mentioned, but I will try a few more. Also – I would love to see these used in real life. If you know a band who needs a name, please use them..

Hipster Dude Ranch – This is a group of guys who thought it would be fun to “ironically” sing new versions of the old cowboy music of people like Roy Rogers. They soon had a following of other hipsters who love things that are done “ironically”. They perform at local craft breweries and coffee shops. They are universally hated by everyone outside their loyal following.

Tuesday Night Cake – A Sacramento based Cake cover band, They love Cake and love the fact they are from Sacramento. Unfortunately, there is not a high demand for a Cake cover band, even in Sacramento. They only play once a week – Tuesday nights at the bar at the Holiday Inn. Thus the name.

Transient Anus – Death metal band. They produce a lot of shitty music, but only on demand.

Unclean Widow – A band that formed at a grief support group when several members realized they all were musicians. The music is angry and sad and helps them process their grief. It’s also a good way to pick up guys who can also help them forget their grief for a while.

Amish Kindergarten – Acoustic band made up of friends who have known each other since they were 5. They all hate each other now, but they stick together in the hopes of making it big.

I guess i should go cook dinner now, so I will stop there.

The One Where Tater Parties With Strangers

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I wrote recently about memoirs. It got me thinking about stories about my life. I’m not sure any stories about my life are that interesting. This one at least involves a musician who just released a new album(buy it!) and has songs playing on the radio. So, there is at least one interesting person in the story.  This is not the same as the party I talked about in an earlier post where I wandered out of my brother’s New Year’s Eve Party and ended up at a random person’s party. I went to this one completely sober and aware of my actions.

We start with me being the type of person who follows musicians I like on social media. Ryan Hamilton had been in a band I liked and had a new solo album out. I saw on his events page that he had an event for the DC area. I clicked on the link for tickets and it didn’t work. I think at one point it had a place to click to get an email about tickets. I got nothing. I finally emailed Ryan to ask why the ticket thing wasn’t working. He emailed back and told me it was a private event. That should have been the end. If it had been the end I could have avoided the awkward part that comes next.

Ryan told me he could ask about getting me an invite to the party. Normally, I would decline because I’m awkward and not the type to willingly go party with strangers. For some reason, I said yes and he got me the invite. Somewhere in all of this times were mentioned and I thought I knew what time I was supposed to arrive. I thought wrong. I would love to say 100% Ryan gave me the wrong time. It would be easy to do and I could claim he owed me for the awkwardness. I no longer have the email, so I can’t say for sure that I didn’t read the time wrong. All I know is that I had the wrong time.

I arrived close to the time I thought I should arrive. I should also mention that this event was at someone’s house, not a nice, safe public venue. I could see that no one else had arrived. I really wanted to just go somewhere and wait for more people to show up. There were two problems. One, there was no place to pull over and wait where I could see when other people arrived, Two, I wasn’t 100% sure I was at the right place. I felt like I should at least knock, ask if I was in the right place and then go from there. So, I knocked. They answered. It was the right place, I was awkwardly very early. They insisted I stay. I did.  They were very nice. I felt terrible while I awkwardly waited for more strangers to show up.

Eventually, other people arrived and I was able to fade into the background. I’m pretty sure I was the only person there who didn’t know the hosts and didn’t really know the performer.  I was just some weirdo who had driven to Northern Virginia to show up way to early at a strangers house to hear someone sing. I did enjoy the show and everyone was very nice. There was more awkwardness at the end when I had to be the last one to leave because everyone else was behind me in the driveway(and I’m also very bad at reversing). The hostess hugged me when I left. She probably felt bad for me. I was very awkward.

I saw the hostess recently at another concert. It was a public venue. The band has a song about her that they sang at the show. She was backstage and came out on stage at the end of the song. Maybe I should have stayed in touch. I’m not sure anyone wanted that.

I’m still friends with Ryan on Facebook and just bought his new album. I’m patiently waiting for his band to do a show, a public show at a public venue, in the DC area. I just missed him when I was in London last year. I think he’s avoiding me.

And now here is a Timehop photo of Ryan singing in the house since I apparently no longer have the original on my phone.

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My Favorite Song From Each Year I’ve Been Alive

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A while back I did a movie one and I saw this one mentioned on Twitter, so I thought I would try it. I’m not digging deep into the music of each year. I’m looking at the top 100 and picking a song so I’m sure I will miss some favorites and some genres. As we get more recent I might look up certain songs to find the year so I don’t miss them. I might add links to some I think people might not know, but not for most of them. That seems like work.

1969 – Everyday People – Sly and the Family Stone

1970 – Let it Be – The Beatles

1971 – Joy to the World – Three Dog Night

1972 – Burning Love – Elvis

1973 – Bad Bad Leroy Brown – Jim Croce

1974 – Bennie and the Jets – Elton John

1975 – Killer Queen – Queen

1976 – Give Up The Funk – Parliament

1977 – Lucille – Kenny Rogers

1978 – Two Out of Three Ain’t Bad – Meatloaf

1979 – Devil Went Down to Georgia – Charlie Daniels

1980 – I Wanna Be Sedated – The Ramones

1981 – Elvira – The Oak Ridge Boys

1982 – Jack and Diane – John Cougar

1983 – 1999 – Prince

1984 – Footloose – Kenny Loggins

1985 – One Night in Bangkok – Murray Head

1986 – You Give Love a Bad Name – Bon Jovi

1987 – Here I Go Again – Whitesnake

1988 – Nothin But a Good Time  Poison

1989 – Once Bitten, Twice Shy – Great White

1990 – Friends in Low Places – Garth Brooks

1991 – Here’s a Quarter Call Someone Who Cares – Travis Tritt

1992 – If I Didn’t Have You – Randy Travis

1993 – Fast As You – Dwight Yoakam

1994 – Wink – Neil McCoy

1995 – I Like It, I Love It – Tim McGraw

1996 – No News – Lonestar

1997 – Longneck Bottle  – Garth Brooks

1998 – Intergalactic – Beastie Boys

1999 – Write This Down – George Strait

2000 – How Do You Like Me Now – Toby Keith

2001 – It’s a Great Day to Be Alive  – Travis Tritt

2002 – Girl All the Bad Guys Want  – Bowling for Soup

 

2003 – My Front Porch Looking In – Lonestar

2004  – Ohio(Come Back to Texas) – Bowling For Soup

2005 – As Good As I Once Was – Toby Keith

2006 – High School Never Ends – Bowling For Soup

2007 – Rockstar – Nickelback(don’t judge me)

2008 – All Summer Long – Kid Rock(stop judging me)

2009 – So What – Pink

2010 – Love the Way You Lie – Eminem & Rihanna

2011 – Douchebag – Patent Pending

2012 – We Are Young – Fun

2013 – Real – Bowling for Soup

2014 – Roar – Katy Perry

2015 – Until the Sun Comes Up – Patent Pending

2016  – Catalyst – Bowling For Soup

2017 – Dance Like a Maniac – Dollyrots

2018 – Ghost of James Dean – Ryan Hamilton and the Traitor

2019(so far) – That Night – Jaret and Kelly

All of these answers could change tomorrow.

My Concert List

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A friend of mine went to the KISS concert in Nashville last night and posted pictures on Facebook. It made me think about seeing KISS in concert when I was in high school. I can’t remember if it was the first or the second concert I attended, but it was one of the first. I decided to devote today’s post to a list of bands I’ve seen live. They will not necessarily be in chronological order because I’m old and forgetful, but it might be close. Before we get to the list though, here is a picture of me in my KISS costume

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  1. KISS – Evansville
  2. Motley Crue/Whitesnake – Evansville
  3. Bon Jovi/Skid Row – Lexington
  4. George Thorogood – Louisville
  5. Van Halen(with Sammy Hagar as the lead singer) – Lexington
  6. Randy Travis/Reba McIntyre – Lexington
  7. Joan Jett – free concert at a festival in DC
  8. American Hi Fi opened for a more famous band who I can’t remember right now – Baltimore
  9. B-52’s – Baltimore
  10. Eagles – DC
  11. Miley Cyrus – with the kids at the White House Easter Egg Roll in DC
  12. Alabama Shakes/ZZ Top/Jack White – Freefest – Columbia, MD
  13. Bowling for Soup – Baltimore
  14. Bowling for Soup/Patent Pending/The Dollyrots – Baltimore
  15. Bowling for Soup/Patent Pending/Sandlot Heroes – Lancaster. PA
  16. Bowling for Soup/The Dollyrots – Baltimore
  17. Ryan Hamilton – a stranger’s house in Virginia
  18. Bowling for Soup/Stacked Like Pancakes/another band I can’t remember – Baltimore
  19. Upcoming – Bowling for Soup/Reel Big Fish/Nerf Herder – Silver Spring, MD

I don’t go to many shows anymore. I try obviously go to see BFS whenever they are near. Most other concerts are so expensive they don’t seem worth it.

Now a couple of more pictures of me and my son with band members

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Me with Kelly from The Dollyrots

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My son at his first concert with Jaret from Bowling for Soup

I Wish I Didn’t Care

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The lyrics below are some of my favorites from a song from one of my favorite bands, Patent Pending. I’ve also included a video of the song if you want to listen. I love the lyrics and I wish I could live them a little more.  I feel like life would be a lot easier if I could care a little less. If I could stop worrying about what others think and just be the me I want to be. Sometimes I feel like I’ve spent so much time trying to be who others want me to be that I’ve forgotten who I am. As the band says – what’s the point of stressing out about what everyone thinks? All this stressing out and caring about how others see me has not really done anything for me. Why do I keep doing it? Why do I care if people don’t like me? It’s their loss, not mine. It’s time to stop worrying, stop trying to be who others want me to be and just be Tater. If that isn’t good enough for someone  then I don’t need them in my life. So, enough melodrama –  click on the video and enjoy the song.

 

I still remember when I cared what people thought about me
They mocked my music and my hair like I was some kind of freak
I was awkward, paranoid, so scared that I’d barely speak
Until I said “Fuck it, they can suck it! It’s more fun being me!”
Yeah, I know who I am
I do what I want ’cause I know that I can

So what’s the point of stressing out about what everyone thinks?
It doesn’t matter at all ’cause they’ve got nothing on me
They sit at home and bitch and moan ’cause they’re all too scared to live
They can throw their sticks and their stones but I ain’t got no fucks left to give

I Want to Sing

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I love music. There is rarely a day that goes by that I don’t listen to some sort of music. I think that’s probably not unusual. I think most people like music and listen to some music each day. I like all kinds of music: rock, country, pop, punk, ska, etc. When I am alone I sing along to all of my favorite songs and in my head, I pretend that I don’t sound terrible. Unfortunately, my voice does not stay in my head. Outside of my head, my singing is not good. I’ve always wanted to have any sort of musical talent.

I played baritone in middle school band, I only played baritone in middle school band because I wanted to change homerooms in 7th grade to be in the same class as my friends and to do that I needed to have an excuse to have an elective 6th period. Band was that excuse. I played baritone because it was free and I needed free. I liked band OK and tried to be good at it. I learned to read music and I practiced, but I was never going to be more than mediocre at playing baritone. I quit band when I got to high school and have never attempted to learn another instrument.

In college, I sang in a choir with the Baptist Student Union. I was able to get close to hitting the right notes if I stood next to a strong singer. I could match them and not make the choir sound horrible. I could not hit the notes if singing alone. I enjoyed choir, but more for the friends, not because I had any business singing in front of an audience. I have not sung in public outside of congregational singing in church since college.

I sing in my car. I have recently caught myself singing in my office at work while listening to music while working on the schedule.  In my head, I sound good when singing. In my head, I sound my best when singing along with Elvis, especially All Shook Up. I know that it is all in my head. It is disappointing. I love music and have always wanted to have that talent. Alas, it was not to be.

 

In Which Tater Shares a Couple of New Songs

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No writing today as I was the one person in my house who had to go to work. Instead – enjoy a couple of new songs from bands I hope will be big soon.

First – Not Ur Girlfrienz – a group of very talented teens from Texas. I found then through BFS lead singer Jaret Reddick

And second – Ryan Hamilton and the Harlequin Ghosts – Ryan’s from Texas, the rest, I think are from somewhere in England. The video features Ryan’s wife. I’ve met them both. They are good people. The band just signed with Little Steven’s Wicked Cool Records

Enjoy!

Some Music Stuff

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I was contemplating a more serious post about religious freedom, but I have neither the time nor the energy for something like that. Maybe tomorrow when I work the evening shift and will have more time in the morning.  So, I will do a post about music even though I’m pretty sure I’ve said all of this before.

Right now, I am listening to less of the music on my phone and more music on Sirius. I’ve discovered that I really like the music they play on the 60’s station. I do spend a lot of time on the 80’s as well, but I stop on the 60’s a lot. I have also listened to a lot of 80’s and 90’s country recently. The 90’s country is a lot of my favorite music from when I was living outside Cincinnati. I didn’t really like a lot of the pop music in the 90’s so I gravitated toward country. Turns out I still like it.

As for the music on my phone – yesterday I emailed my wife a link to the website for merchandise from Jaret and Kelly and their new album. She responded with “Who are these people?” These people are the lead singers of my favorite bands Bowling for Soup and The Dollyrots. How could she not know this? I play the music a lot. A good portion of my personal music collection stems from BFS. Here’s a synopsis.

Head some BFS music. Loved it. Started listening to more.

Attended a BFS concert. Patent Pending and The Dollyrots opened. Loved both of them. Bought their music. Attended more concerts with some iteration of these bands.

Jaret from BFS and Ryan Hamilton from Smile Smile are good friends. They do some albums together as People on Vacation. It is really good music. I bought the albums.

Ryan does a solo album. I buy that album and see Ryan play a house party at a stranger’s house in Virginia.

Ryan starts a new band called Ryan Hamilton and the Traitors, First album is really good. They sign with a label and are now Ryan Hamilton and the Harlequin Ghosts. New album comes this month.

So now I have 5 bands I love all coming from randomly hearing a BFS song on the radio one day.

My son at his first concert with Jaret from Bowling for Soup
Me with Kelly from The Dollyrots

Tater Takes Requests

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I’ve been going through writing ideas in my head and then rejecting them.

There was an article about Elvis in the Post this morning and I just watched the HBO Elvis documentaries. I thought about an Elvis post, but didn’t think I had a full post of material. I will say that if I had to choose to only listen to Elvis or the Beatles forever, I would choose Elvis.

I thought about a full music post, but rejected that one for reasons unknown to even me. I share new songs from my favorite bands n Facebook, but I’m pretty sure no one ever listens to them. I’m not sure anyone wants another music post from me. I will say that I have been spending more time on Prime Country on Sirius while driving these days.  I listened to quite a bit of country as a kid and then again in the 90’s(because I didn’t like the new “pop” music).

Nothing else has struck me as something I feel the need to write about.  No one needs another whiny post from me.

So, you get this “I don’t know what to write” posts.

Now, the reason for the title – What would you like me to write about? Any topic ideas? Stories from my life? Requests that I give up and stop trying?