Damn right, Á¢€Å“My Sharona.Á¢€ The KnackÁ¢€â„¢s one monster hit, co-written by lead guitarist Berton Averre and singer Doug Fieger, has kept my heart pumping and my hands pounding on steering…
Basement Songs
157 Articles
Scott Malchus
2 Min Read
And so, for no real reason besides pride and misunderstanding, my best friend, Steve, and I had a falling out when we were 17. It wasnÁ¢€â„¢t your typical bloodied knuckles,…
Scott Malchus
3 Min Read
Slow dancing. It was something Julie and I did more frequently in the early years of our marriage. There weÁ¢€â„¢d be, alone in our apartment, holding each other and swaying…
Scott Malchus
2 Min Read
Around this time last year, I was in the throes of a terrible depression. It was unlike any wave of emotions I’d ever been through in my entire life. For…
Scott Malchus
2 Min Read
Waiting in line outside the Honda Center in Anaheim, CA, milling about with hundreds of other hungry fans, I suspected that the Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band concert…
Scott Malchus
1 Min Read
Bruce Springsteen released his 12th studio album, The Rising, at the tail end of July 2002. With the U.S. still reeling from the 9/11/01 terrorist attacks and stories of fallen…
Scott Malchus
1 Min Read
“Wild West End,” a track from Dire Straits’ self-titled first record, is a dreamy, beautiful song I carry around with me, even if I don’t seek it out for regular…
Scott Malchus
1 Min Read
Last year my friend John Burland questioned my sanity when I told him of my devotion to Wings’ smash hit “Silly Love Songs.” I’ll admit that it may not be…
Scott Malchus
1 Min Read
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…
Scott Malchus
1 Min Read
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…
Scott Malchus
1 Min Read
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”…
Scott Malchus
1 Min Read
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…
Scott Malchus
1 Min Read
As many of you may know, my wife Julie and I fell in love very fast. I knew after our first date that I’d met the woman I would marry…
Scott Malchus
1 Min Read
Hey Matt, I know we haven’t spoken in awhile, but you know I’m always thinking about you around this time each year. I wanted to tell you about this dream…
Scott Malchus
1 Min Read
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…
Scott Malchus
1 Min Read
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…
Scott Malchus
1 Min Read
In the world of Canadian major-league rock and roll, if Rush are the Toronto Blue Jays and April Wine are the single Á¢€ËœAÁ¢€â„¢ Vancouver Canadians, Triumph would be the triple…
Scott Malchus
1 Min Read
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…
Scott Malchus
1 Min Read
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…
Scott Malchus
1 Min Read
We had a custom in 76 Rodgers my first year at Bowling Green. That year I roomed with my cousin Dave and nearly each night weÁ¢€â„¢d slap an LP on…
Scott Malchus
5 Min Read
Inspiration comes at you from all places. Sometimes it is the actions of another person, sometimes it is the encouraging words from a friend or loved one. And sometimes, inspiration…
Scott Malchus
5 Min Read
To date, I have lived in two houses with basements. Budd and EleanorÁ¢€â„¢s nig house on North Park was the original basement. I grew up there, spent my college summers…
Scott Malchus
7 Min Read
It was supposed to be like any other first date: Go to a movie, get to know each other, maybe have a couple of drinks, and, if lucky enough, share…
Scott Malchus
1 Min Read
While searching for a Jonathan Franzen short story sent to me a couple years ago, I came across a folder of old journal entries that date back to my senior…
Scott Malchus
1 Min Read
This week I offered to create a mix tape, of sorts, for one of my favorite blogs, Py Korry (see link to the right). The sit does some great writing…
Scott Malchus
8 Min Read
Each and every time I hear the opening guitar strumming of The PretendersÁ¢€â„¢ Á¢€Å“Back on the Chain GangÁ¢€; I am filled with happiness, sorrow, love and regret. Then the acoustic…
Scott Malchus
5 Min Read
My father wasn’t an easy man to love growing up. I was an emotional kid and I didn’t quite get why he wasn’t overly affectionate with all of his children….
Scott Malchus
6 Min Read
With the Great Strides walk this weekend, the idea of writing about one of my basement songs almost became overwhelming. For some unknown reason I place a burden on myself…
Scott Malchus
6 Min Read
What do you get when you cross one of the most important bands of this era with a British punk/folk poet singing a moving, tragic love song that is nearly…
Scott Malchus
8 Min Read
For those of you who frequent this blog, you know that the music of Bruce Springsteen has meant a great deal to me throughout my adult life. His 1987 masterpiece,…