Alphabet Soup Week 39: Artists Filed Under T

Hunkered down, waiting for a storm to pass through so we can get back out on the trail, I reflect on the transience of the current phase of our lives.

I'm currently sitting in the living room of our Airbnb in the village of Glenbeigh on the Iveragh peninsula in County Kerry, Ireland. Today was supposed to be our fourth day of hiking the Kerry Way, one of Ireland's premier long distance trails, but the weather had different ideas. There's a major storm system moving through today, bringing heavy and persistent rain, with winds gusting to 40 mph and intermittent lightning. Not a great day to be out at sea level, let alone traversing the "Windy Gap" at 1,100 feet. The trail will still be there tomorrow and it'll be a far safer and more comfortable day.

Tina and I have now been "on the road" for a little over three months in a stage of our lives I've somewhat playfully been referring to as "the intermission" between the second and third acts of our lives. Much of the last 3+ months since my retirement has been spent on a trail, with 73 days of walking logged through yesterday. It's been absolutely lovely, but the transient nature of our lives has also been somewhat unsettling. From early January we plan to base ourselves in the north of England, between the Yorkshire Dales and the Lake District, to begin our house hunting in earnest. But for tax reasons we're not able to establish a fixed abode until early March, leaving us with five more months on the move.

Between now and the first week of January we'll be staying in a total of 26 different accommodations for an average of four nights each. That level of transience makes it extremely challenging to establish any sort of a routine. With anything. While I'm still hanging on to my daily routine of prayer, meditation and journaling, I'm no longer always getting it done in the morning and have become resigned to "squeezing it in" at some point during the day, which isn't ideal. The truism "home is where the heart is" has generally been borne out as I do feel at home in the presence of my love, regardless of where we are in the world. And I am loving being out on the trail almost every day; walking nature truly is my happy place. Having said that, I'm very much looking forward to the stability of a more permanent home base.

Although staying consistent with my Substack writing has at times felt like a burden, it's also provided a sense of normalcy and comfort, anchoring me to the familiar. And reading and commenting here continues to bring immeasurable joy and a sense of maintaining connections and an active involvement in community which is increasingly important to me. On that note, we’ve now reached week 39 of Alphabet Soup, bringing us to the "T Artists". I was spoiled for choice with this week's playlist as I had over 150 albums from which to choose, spanning 89 separate artists whose work found a home in my physical CD collection back in the day.

Let's jump in!!

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ALPHABET SOUP WEEK 39: Artists Filed Under T

This week’s selections:

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ARTIST: Tori Amos

TRACK: “Cornflake Girl” from Under the Pink (1994)

I didn't realize until I began researching this article just how prolific Tori Amos has been; she's now released a total of sixteen albums during a career spanning over 30 years. My introduction to her music came through her second album, 1994's Under the Pink, which saw global success on the back of the single Cornflake Girl (lead single in the UK, second single in the US). I purchased a few of her albums into the early 2000s but haven't really paid much attention to her career in the last couple decades since the 2005 release The Beekeeper. If you're still following her music, I'd welcome any advice on what’s worth checking out from her more recent catalog.

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ARTIST: Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers

TRACK: “You Got Lucky” from Greatest Hits (1993)

Tom Petty's 1989 solo release Full Moon Fever, which remains a fabulous album, was everywhere when I entered university in the fall of that year. But I've hardly listened to any of Petty's studio work with The Heartbreakers outside of the wonderful Greatest Hits collection released in 1993. I'd heard and enjoyed some of the bigger hits over the years, but this collection certainly introduced me to many more. There’s probably half a dozen tracks that I only heard for the first time when I bought this collection shortly after its release. The album did extremely well, peaking at number 5 on the Billboard 200 chart and at number 4 in Canada; it would become his best selling record with over 12 million units sold in the US.

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ARTIST: Throwing Muses

TRACK: “Limbo” from Limbo (1996)

Limbo was the seventh studio album by Throwing Muses after which they disbanded until their 2003 reunion, which saw the return of co-founder Tanya Donnelly. The prior album, 1995's University, was my on ramp to the band and, coming in as late as I did, I never went back and listened to their earlier work. Given how much I enjoyed Donnelly's work with The Breeders and Belly and her solo work, that's a musical blind spot I need to remedy. I'm three tracks into 1989's Hunkapapa as I write this and very much enjoying what I'm hearing.

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As you make your way through this week’s playlist, I’d love to hear your thoughts. Do any of these tracks really stand out for you? What do you like? What don’t you like?

Please click the button below to leave a comment.

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ARTIST: The Tragically Hip

TRACK: “Little Bones” from Road Apples (1991)

Little Bones, from their seminal 1991 album Road Apples, marks the fourth appearance in Alphabet Soup by the legendary Canadian band The Tragically Hip. While their debut album two years earlier had produced a pair of hit singles in Blow At High Dough and New Orleans Is Sinking, the album itself only reached number 13 on the Canadian album chart. Road Apples would be the first Hip album to reach number one in Canada and Little Bones, the lead single and album opener, remains one of the band's most popular songs.

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ARTIST: Third Eye Blind

TRACK: “Losing a Whole Year” from Third Eye Blind (1997)

Third Eye Blind last appeared in Alphabet Soup way back in week 16 with How it's Going to Be from the same album, their self-titled 1997 debut. The band initially intended for Losing a Whole Year to be the album’s lead single before their label Elektra suggested (wisely) that they go with Semi-Charmed Life, a track that completely blew up into a monster hit. While that was certainly a very good song, it was overplayed to death and as a result lost its shine for me.

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ARTIST: Tonic

TRACK: “If You Could Only See” from Lemon Parade (1996)

Tonic's biggest hit, If You Could Only See, which was the third single released from their 1996 debut album Lemon Parade, topped both the Billboard Modern Rock chart in the US and the Rock/Alternative chart in Canada. The album itself peaked at number 28 on the Billboard 200 chart and would ultimately be certified platinum in the US. The follow up album, 1999's Sugar, would also reach the top half of the Billboard 200. The following two albums failed to achieve the same level of success and the band has done very little since releasing a 20th anniversary acoustic version of Lemon Parade in 2016.

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ARTIST: Tracy Bonham

TRACK: “Mother Mother” from The Burdens of Being Upright (1996)

I don't necessarily love the "one hit wonder" moniker, but sometimes the shoe fits. Mother Mother from Tracy Bonham's debut album, 1996's The Burdens of Being Upright, was by far her most successful single. It topped Billboard's Modern Rock Tracks chart and saw success in Australia (number 5), Canada (number 3), and Norway (number 6). Bonham would go on to release a further five albums and five EPs but would never achieve the level of success of that 1996 debut record.

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ARTIST: Trik Turner

TRACK: “Father” from Trik Turner (2002)

Another week, another nu metal song. At least that's what it feels like! This week it's Father from Trik Turner's self-titled debut album released in 2002. I can't remember the first track I heard - it would have been one of the two singles, either Sacrifice or Friends & Family - but I remember exactly where I was. We were in a rental car barreling up I-93 from Boston to a bed and breakfast in New Hampshire and this amazing song came on the radio. It was smack dab in the middle of my nu metal phase and checked a lot of musical boxes for me.

Given the challenges in my relationship with my own father, I immediately connected with this track. By that point in my life my relationship with my father had come a long way. But I was still close to a decade from what I now consider to be a full reconciliation with my dad; many of the themes in the track resonated with me deeply.

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ARTIST: Temple of the Dog

TRACK: “Hunger Strike” from Temple of the Dog (1991)

I was quite late to Temple of the Dog, the collaboration between Chris Cornell and members of Mother Love Bone (and future members of Pearl Jam), as it was probably 1994 or 1995 before I heard their self-titled debut (and only) album. Hunger Strike was the breakout single and the highlight of the album for me. While researching the song I learned that this was the first time Eddie Vedder, who shares vocal duties on the track, was ever recorded.

As Vedder tells it (from Wikipedia):

“It was during that same week that I was up there [In Seattle rehearsing with Pearl Jam]. Day four maybe, or day five, they did a Temple [of the Dog] rehearsal after our afternoon rehearsal. I got to watch these songs, and watch how Chris [Cornell] was working, and watch Matt [Cameron] play drums. It got to "Hunger Strike" — I was sitting in the corner, putting duct tape on a little African drum. About two-thirds of the way through, he was having to cut off the one line, and start the other. I'm not now, and certainly wasn't then, self-assured or cocky, but I could hear what he was trying to do, so I walked up to the mic — which I'm really surprised I did — and sang the other part, "Going hungry, going hungry." The next time I was up, he asked if I'd record it — so it was just me and Chris in the same studio that we made [1991's] Ten record. I really like hearing that song. I feel like I could be real proud of it — because one, I didn't write it, and two, it was such a nice way to be ushered onto vinyl for the first time. I'm indebted to Chris time eternal for being invited onto that track.”

“That was the first time I heard myself on a real record. It could be one of my favorite songs that I’ve ever been on — or the most meaningful.”

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ARTIST: Tool

TRACK: “Sober” from Undertow (1993)

I'm not sure whether I'd heard of Tool before I met, dated and married Tina. She brought their first two albums into our joint CD collection, including their debut, 1993's Undertow on which Sober appears. Their music tended to be a little harder and more dense/complex than my standard musical diet at the time. But I was also on the verge of a fairly meaningful expansion of my musical tastes and was certainly open to what Maynard James Keenan and the rest of the band were delivering. We'd ultimately come to own all of the band's albums and I'd follow most of Keenan's involvement with A Perfect Circle and Puscifer.

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Walking The Kerry Way

After arriving in Ireland on Tuesday, Tina and I made our way to County Kerry by train on Wednesday and set out on our walk of the Kerry Way on Thursday. We’ve had three days of walking on this wonderful national trail and have been blown away by the beauty. Our first day on the trail was the best day of hiking we’ve had in all of 2024, which is really saying something!

Here are a handful of photos from the first few days of hiking:

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Here’s the link to the running playlist which is updated on a weekly basis as each new installment is published:

ALPHABET SOUP RUNNING PLAYLIST

Tracks missing from the Spotify playlist:

• Allegory by Murray Attaway (Week 02)

• Face Me and Smile by The Lover Speaks (Week 12)

• From Your Mouth by God Lives Underwater (Week 13)

• This Can’t Go On! by The Lover Speaks (Week 23)

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Thank you for reading Joy in the Journey, I appreciate you being here! If there’s someone in your life you think may enjoy this post, feel free to share it.