Matt Morris
Santa Cruz, CA. Happy to see the sky here is truly blue. Music every day. Resist.
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- #Musicsky Whew. I bailed on November #MusicChallenge about halfway through and haven't engaged December at all. Hoping to jump back in for the New Year. In the meantime, hope you enjoy my annual Holiday Music playlist. I'm still trying to ween off Spotify - also in the New year, perhaps. Cheers!
- #ArtistFave15 The Thrills No. 1 "Big Sur" The composition of this song is all I need to be won over, but somehow tying it to Big Sur - I remain a forever fan, even if the band never returns from their hiatus.
- #DavidsMonthOfMusic - Connections #MusicChallenge Nov 15 Played Eels yesterday. Their drummer, Jonathan "Butch" Norton has also been the drummer for Lucinda Williams since the Little Honey album. "Real Love" by Lucinda Williams (2008)
- #NewWaveNovember #MusicChallenge Nov 15 "Vienna" by Ultravox Though not a big hit in the states in 1980, this video would play frequently when MTV hit the airwaves a year later, along with many New Romantic counterparts.
- #MuiscInMusic #MuiscChallenge Nov 15 "Rosalita (Come Out Tonight)" by Bruce Springsteen (1973) "I know a pretty little place in Southern California down San Diego way. There's a little cafe where they play guitars all night and all day. You can hear them in the backroom strumming"
- #302020s #MuiscChallenge Nov 15 It's a 2022 day for me on this challenge. Every new release from this Jersey band sounds filled with passion and excitement. "All Through The Night" by Titus Andronicus
- #ArtistFave15 The Thrills No. 2 "Santa Cruz (You're Not That Far)" In 2003 I was living in Chandler, Arizona and really missing the central coast of California. One day, at a Borders music listening station, I discovered this new release and was transported back.
- #DavidsMonthOfMusic - Connections #MusicChallenge Nov 14 Yesterday's song was by Natalie Merchant. Today, a song with the name Natalie in the title "If You See Natalie" by Eels (2005)
- #NewWaveNovember #MusicChallenge Nov 14 The New Romantics movement in the U.K. became a key pillar of New Wave, helping to launch a second British Invasion in the U.S. "Fade to Gray" by Visage (1980)
- #MusicInMusic #MusicChallenge Nov 14 "Jobs I Had Before I Got Rich & Famous" by Walter Martin "Information counter at the Cloister's Museum, and one day Billy Joel walks in. I take a long long look at him, a dignified old music man. And that's when I devise my plan"
- #302020s #MusicChallenge Nov 14 2021 today, and a song that has become one of my holiday season favorites since it released 4 years ago. "Pub Crawl" by Arkells
- #ArtistFave15 #MusicChallenge The Thrills No. 3 "Teenager" "You rolled your eyes teenage style and said "I don't care for the past". If I could go back, a teenager again, if I could go back, I'd trip over again. But where would I fall? And who would break my fall?" - gets me every time.
- #DavidsMonthOfMusic - Connections #MusicChallenge Nov 13 Played 10,000 Maniacs yesterday. Their lead singer contributed this song to the Gershwin tribute album Red Hot + Rhapsody "But Not For Me" by Natalie Merchant (1998)
- #NewWaveNovember #MusicChallenge Nov 13 I heard this one today at the grocery store. It's one of those songs that became more known years later in the states than it was when it released. But an early new wave staple on MTV "I Got You" by Split Enz (1980)
- #MusicInMusic #MusicChallenge Nov 13 "Wood Beez" by Script Politti (1985) "Each time I go to bed I pray like Aretha Franklin"
- #302020s #MusicChallenge #MusicSky Nov 13 And we rotate back to 2020 for another cycle through that last six years. This is possibly my favorite song from 2020. "Hallelujah, What's It To Ya?" by Fast Romantics
- #ArtistFave15 #MusicChallenge The Thrills No. 4 "The Irish Keep Gate-Crashing" Kind of a low-key banger from the guys. "Lust will only get us so far now"
- #DavidsMonthOfMusic - Connectioins #MusicChallenge Featured Cat Stevens yesterday, today a band that covered one of his biggest hits. It's the first song I remember hearing by this band. "Peace Train" by 10,000 Maniacs (1987)
- #NewWaveNovember #MusicChallenge Nov. 12 Robert Palmer had well established himself on rock and pop formats by 1980, but his Clues album was frequently lumped in with the now booming New Wave sound. "Johnny and Mary" by Robert Palmer (1980)
- #MusicInMusic #MusicChallenge Nov. 12 "I Dig Rock and Roll Music" by Peter, Paul and Mary (1967) The song name checks The Mamas and The Papas, Donovan, and The Beatles while waxing on about Rock and Roll in 1967.
- #302020s #MusicChallenge Nov 12 Today we go back to...well, 2025. The Innocence Mission have been making music for over 35 years now. And I still find myself frozen in my tracks by their beautifully haunting melodies. "A Different Day (alternate version) by The Innocence Mission
- #ArtistFave15 #MusicChallenge The Thrills No. 5 "Not For All the Love In The World" Man, it really felt like this song was going to break them big in there states. Alas, it wasn't to be. Still, epic ballad.
- #DavidsMonthOfMusic - Connections #MusicChallenge Nov 11 Yesterday featured an artist who, after scoring big hits, changed their legal name. And so it is with today's artist, Yusuf Islam - formerly Cat Stevens. "Wild World" by Cat Stevens
- #DavidsMonthOfMusic - Connections #MusicChallenge Nov 10 yesterday's song included the word "wishing", as does this late 80's hit from an artist formerly named Terrence Trent D'Arby. "Wishing Well" by Sananda Maitreya (1987)
- #NewWaveNovember #MusicChallenge Nov 11 As New Wave began to grow as a genre, some artists who had been making music long enough to be well established even found some of their music pulled under the umbrella. "Ashes to Ashes" by David Bowie
- #MusicInMusic #MusicChallenge Nov 11 "Deacon Blues" by Steely Dan (1977) "Learn to work the saxophone, I play just what I feel."
- #302020s #MusicChallenge Nov 11 In 2024, Richard Hawley released the delightful bit of whimsey. "Prism In Jeans" by Richard Hawley
- #ArtistFave15 #MusicChallenge The Thrills No. 6 "Found My Rosebud" I was obsessed with this song when Let's Bottle Bohemia released in 2004.
- #ArtistFave15 #MusicChallenge The Thrills No. 7 "One Horse Town" The band's first hit! Top ten in Ireland, top 20 in the UK, and even hit big on the US AAA format. The video was filmed in Malibu, evoking the California coast inspiration of that first album.
- #ArtistFave15 The Thrills No. 8 "The Midnight Choir" The band's final single, released late 2007, it failed to chart anywhere as far as I can see, which likely contributed to their hiatus (which continues to this day). Upbeat jangle pop.
- #DavidsMonthOfMusic - Connections #MusicChallenge Nov 10 yesterday's song included the word "wishing", as does this late 80's hit from an artist formerly named Terrence Trent D'Arby. "Wishing Well" by Sananda Maitreya (1987)
- #DavidsMonthOfMusic - Connections #MusicChallenge Nov 9 From a Beach Boys classic, we go this Chicago hit that features backing vocals from those same surf lads. "Wishing You Were Here" by Chicago (1974)
- #DavidsMonthOfMusic - Connections #MusicChallenge Nov 9 From a Beach Boys classic, we go this Chicago hit that features backing vocals from those same surf lads. "Wishing You Were Here" by Chicago (1974)
- #DavidsMonthOfMusic - Connections #MusicChallenge Nov 8 From the Ronettes "By My Baby" to a song that it inspired. Brian Wilson was so enthralled with the Spector produced tune, he went home and wrote this song. "Don't Worry Baby" by The Beach Boys (1964)
- #DavidsMonthOfMusic - Connections #MusicChallenge Nov 8 From the Ronettes "By My Baby" to a song that it inspired. Brian Wilson was so enthralled with the Spector produced tune, he went home and wrote this song. "Don't Worry Baby" by The Beach Boys (1964)
- #NewWaveNovember Nov 10 "Rock N Roll Girl" by The Beat (1979) This power pop outfit is mostly remembered as the reason America knew Dave Wakeling's band as The English Beat. They would later be called Paul Collins Beat.
- #NewWaveNovember Nov 9 "Tears of A Clown" by The Beat (1979) One more New Wave act from 79 born from the 2 tone ska revival. In America we knew them as The English Beat due to sharing a name with, honestly, an inferior band. I'll play them for Nov 10.
- #NewWaveNovember #MusicChallenge Nov 8 "One Step Beyond" by Madness Another New Wave band that embraced the 2 tone ska revival in the late 70's
- #MusicInMusic #MusicChallenge Nov 10 (missed a couple of days - jumping back in) "Frank Sinatra" by Cake "We know of an ancient radiation...A faintly glimmering radio station. While Frank Sinatra sings Stormy Weather...cobwebs fall on an old skipping record"
- #302020s #MusicChallenge Nov 10 rolling up on 2023 today, I'm going with this tasty big of Neo-soul pop. "One and Only" by Gabriels
