Writing from London this week as I take a brief sabbatical from 3+ months of hiking to give myself a rest and my body a chance to heal from a nagging injury.
Stunning pictures! I hope your back injury is not too tedious and that you can finally get some very well-deserved time to rest and unwind before continuing your adventures!
It seems a more manageable task to come up with U songs vs. artists. Dan named a bunch of good ones, but I'll comment on your list.
I had never heard of Sebastian Tellier or Smoke City but really liked them both a lot.
Thievery Corporation is hit and miss for me, but in their early days they were a hit much more often. A friend of mine plays percussion for them when they tour the states.
You've created a nice mood with these three songs to start. Really the four songs, as Ivy is another jam. I am hoping for a 5th appearance by the time you get to Z!
And that's where it falls off for me...😜 I've never been able to get into The Grateful Dead. I've tried. I live in the Bay Area. I've been in 3 bands that played GD covers. I've seen them twice in concert. But they were never my thing.
Men at Work and Beck songs are fantastic. Two of my faves.
I'm shocked that the first time you heard "Us and Them" was from a live album that Roger Waters wasn't a part of. It's been part of my musical DNA for so long I forget that it's not the same for everyone.
I'm indifferent to Ani DiFranco. I appreciate her more than I enjoy her music. I have had so many friends that loved her to death and I wanted to share in their adoration, but it didn't happen.
Ending with The Smiths is always perfect. Starting with them too. I'm grateful that they were there for you in a troubled time. Sometimes it helps to know that someone else is miserable now.
I hope your body heals and cooperates for the next leg of your journey. It's a lot you are doing -- I hope you are celebrating what you've already accomplished. I'm certainly envious and impressed.
Thanks Steve, sorry for my delay in responding. The Grateful Dead are one of those bands that seem to inspire quite a division. I rarely meet someone who think they’re “okay”, it’s either a love/like or a strong dislike. I don’t know enough of their catalog to have a fully informed opinion but I’d put myself in the like category. One of my big live music regrets was not taking a friend up on an offer for a road trip from Halifax to Boston to watch them live in the early 90s. That likely would’ve pushed me into the love category.
I was definitely a little late to some of Pink Floyd’s work. Us And Them is a perfect example. I’ve listened to very little of their earliest output and I still hang my hat on The Wall and The Final Cut which received mixed but generally quite negative reviews, especially from David Gilmour. It’s almost a Roger Waters solo album to be honest. But I love it.
While I did REALLY love Ani DiFranco for about a decade it feels more like a musical phase in my life that I’ve left behind. I do go back to her work occasionally but don’t feel quite as strongly about her music now as I did back then.
My physical condition has certainly improved with a bit of time off. Thanks for the reminder to celebrate my accomplishments along the way; sometimes I forget to do that.
The two songs I know and like best would be "Underground" and "Uncle John's Band." I went through my own Apple Music library and found several other U songs I really like. I never realized there were so many!:
Under Pressure - Queen & David Bowie
Under My Thumb - Rolling Stones
Ugly Truth Rock - Matthew Sweet
Uma Thurman - Fall Out Boy
U Got the Look - Prince & Sheena Easton
Under the Boardwalk - John Mellencamp
Un-Break My Heart - Toni Braxton
Unchained Melody - Righteous Brothers
Under the Gun - Electric Guest
Uninvited - Alanis Morissette
Universal Heartbeat - Juliana Hatfield
Until You Break - Matthew Sweet
Up & Beyond - Wildcat! Wildcat!
Up on the Roof - James Taylor
Upside Down - Diana Ross
Uptight (Everything's Alright) - Stevie Wonder
Ur So Gay - Katy Perry
Urgent - Foreigner
Use Me - Bill Withers
Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey - Paul McCartney & Wings
Wow, that’s a good list. Most of those I never owned on CD but there’s some good ones. I almost included Uninvited, which is a great track, but if already had Alanis on my list two weeks earlier and so she missed the final cut.
I’m not familiar with Electric Guest, Wildcat! Wildcat!, Best Coast or Neon Trees, will give those a listen
And Untouchable Face was my introduction to Ani DiFranco! I got to see her a couple of summers ago at a spectacular venue here called Codfish Hallow - a barn in the middle of farmland. It was an amazing night!
How funny that it was the same song that introduced us to Ani DiFranco. That album was a little more mainstream than her earlier stuff and probably exposed her to a greater fan base. Glad you got to see her live, she was a complete dynamo when I saw her 25+ years ago (god I feel so old saying that 😂)
Stunning pictures! I hope your back injury is not too tedious and that you can finally get some very well-deserved time to rest and unwind before continuing your adventures!
Thanks Andres, it does seem to be improving and a week away from daily walking will certainly help!
It seems a more manageable task to come up with U songs vs. artists. Dan named a bunch of good ones, but I'll comment on your list.
I had never heard of Sebastian Tellier or Smoke City but really liked them both a lot.
Thievery Corporation is hit and miss for me, but in their early days they were a hit much more often. A friend of mine plays percussion for them when they tour the states.
You've created a nice mood with these three songs to start. Really the four songs, as Ivy is another jam. I am hoping for a 5th appearance by the time you get to Z!
And that's where it falls off for me...😜 I've never been able to get into The Grateful Dead. I've tried. I live in the Bay Area. I've been in 3 bands that played GD covers. I've seen them twice in concert. But they were never my thing.
Men at Work and Beck songs are fantastic. Two of my faves.
I'm shocked that the first time you heard "Us and Them" was from a live album that Roger Waters wasn't a part of. It's been part of my musical DNA for so long I forget that it's not the same for everyone.
I'm indifferent to Ani DiFranco. I appreciate her more than I enjoy her music. I have had so many friends that loved her to death and I wanted to share in their adoration, but it didn't happen.
Ending with The Smiths is always perfect. Starting with them too. I'm grateful that they were there for you in a troubled time. Sometimes it helps to know that someone else is miserable now.
I hope your body heals and cooperates for the next leg of your journey. It's a lot you are doing -- I hope you are celebrating what you've already accomplished. I'm certainly envious and impressed.
Thanks Steve, sorry for my delay in responding. The Grateful Dead are one of those bands that seem to inspire quite a division. I rarely meet someone who think they’re “okay”, it’s either a love/like or a strong dislike. I don’t know enough of their catalog to have a fully informed opinion but I’d put myself in the like category. One of my big live music regrets was not taking a friend up on an offer for a road trip from Halifax to Boston to watch them live in the early 90s. That likely would’ve pushed me into the love category.
I was definitely a little late to some of Pink Floyd’s work. Us And Them is a perfect example. I’ve listened to very little of their earliest output and I still hang my hat on The Wall and The Final Cut which received mixed but generally quite negative reviews, especially from David Gilmour. It’s almost a Roger Waters solo album to be honest. But I love it.
While I did REALLY love Ani DiFranco for about a decade it feels more like a musical phase in my life that I’ve left behind. I do go back to her work occasionally but don’t feel quite as strongly about her music now as I did back then.
My physical condition has certainly improved with a bit of time off. Thanks for the reminder to celebrate my accomplishments along the way; sometimes I forget to do that.
The two songs I know and like best would be "Underground" and "Uncle John's Band." I went through my own Apple Music library and found several other U songs I really like. I never realized there were so many!:
Under Pressure - Queen & David Bowie
Under My Thumb - Rolling Stones
Ugly Truth Rock - Matthew Sweet
Uma Thurman - Fall Out Boy
U Got the Look - Prince & Sheena Easton
Under the Boardwalk - John Mellencamp
Un-Break My Heart - Toni Braxton
Unchained Melody - Righteous Brothers
Under the Gun - Electric Guest
Uninvited - Alanis Morissette
Universal Heartbeat - Juliana Hatfield
Until You Break - Matthew Sweet
Up & Beyond - Wildcat! Wildcat!
Up on the Roof - James Taylor
Upside Down - Diana Ross
Uptight (Everything's Alright) - Stevie Wonder
Ur So Gay - Katy Perry
Urgent - Foreigner
Use Me - Bill Withers
Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey - Paul McCartney & Wings
Undercover Agent of the Blues - Tina Turner
Underground Sun - Smash Mouth
Undun - The Guess Who
Up All Night - Best Coast
Upside Down - Tori Amos
Use Somebody - dvsn
Used to Like - Neon Trees
Wow, that’s a good list. Most of those I never owned on CD but there’s some good ones. I almost included Uninvited, which is a great track, but if already had Alanis on my list two weeks earlier and so she missed the final cut.
I’m not familiar with Electric Guest, Wildcat! Wildcat!, Best Coast or Neon Trees, will give those a listen
Unloveable is one of my favorite Smiths tracks!
And Untouchable Face was my introduction to Ani DiFranco! I got to see her a couple of summers ago at a spectacular venue here called Codfish Hallow - a barn in the middle of farmland. It was an amazing night!
I hope your back feels better asap!!
How funny that it was the same song that introduced us to Ani DiFranco. That album was a little more mainstream than her earlier stuff and probably exposed her to a greater fan base. Glad you got to see her live, she was a complete dynamo when I saw her 25+ years ago (god I feel so old saying that 😂)