Basement Songs »
Basement Songs: New Radicals, “You Get What You Give”
Scooby-Doo, my friends. More precisely, Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed. I don’t know how many times I’ve sat through this 2004 masterpiece of children’s cinema trying to muster a chuckle, the laughs being few and
Read More »Basement Songs: The Beatles, “Here Comes the Sun”
The call came in the middle of the workday, sometime after lunch. Julie was fighting back tears as she drove home from Jacob’s pediatrician’s office. What we had feared was confirmed: Jacob’s failure to
Read More »Basement Songs, Long-Play Edition: Journey, “Escape”
In the autumn of 1981, the band Journey released the multi-platinum album Escape. At the same time, I began sixth grade, entering my second year in an “advanced study program” (ASP) which selected certain
Read More »Basement Songs: Steve Earle, “The Revolution Starts Now”
Growing up in a house filled with the sounds of John Philip Sousa and Henry Fillmore, melody and rhythm came first. As I got older and delved deeper into modern music, I gradually began
Read More »Basement Songs: Michael Stanley Band, “Lover”
My sophomore year at Bowling Green State University, I attended a performance by an African dance troupe. I don’t recall much of that show, save for the troupe inviting the audience on stage to
Read More »Basement Songs: Jeff Buckley, “Hallelujah”
On a sun-drenched afternoon after a lunch break, I drove through Hollywood, aimlessly navigating Sunset Boulevard. I passed the Virgin Megastore, uninterested in the towering building with overpriced CDs. Distracting billboards screamed at me,
Read More »Basement Songs: Triumph, “Fight the Good Fight”
In the world of Canadian major-league rock and roll, if Rush are the Toronto Blue Jays and April Wine are the single ‘A’ Vancouver Canadians, Triumph would be the triple ‘A’ Ottawa Lynx: Three
Read More »Basement Songs: Bryan Adams, “(Everything I Do) I Do It for You”
When my daughter Sophie begins to explore music, I hope she’ll take a trip through the hundreds of LPs and CDs Julie and I have amassed over the years. When she comes across a
Read More »Basement Songs: Kermit the Frog, “The Rainbow Connection”
What is a basement song? It has nothing to do with the Basement Tapes. I can only think of a couple Dylan and /or Band songs that may qualify as a basement song. My
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