Springsteen, Showing Your Age, and Knowing Your Truth

“I’m getting a certain vibe here,” my twenty-one-year-old son said as I drove my car on the streets leading to Houston’s Toyota Center. With less than thirty minutes before showtime, the traffic crawled and the sidewalks were jammed with people heading to the arena to see the 2023 version of Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band.

Yes, there was a vibe. Lots of middle-aged people, many with all-gray hair and loose, baggy clothes worn to hide bodies no longer as thin as fit as they were when The Boss ruled the airwaves in the Seventies and Eighties. Some wore concert t-shirts from ages past while others sported more modern Springsteen attire. A decent number of the concert goers were like me: attending the show with a younger person, hoping to introduce what it was like to see Springsteen the Showman fill an arena with sound and lead the fans in singing his songs. I chuckled as my son and I made our way to our seats. So many people my age and older crowded the hallways. Not like when he and I saw the band Ghost in early 2022. Then, I was in the age minority.

But there was a moment before the lights dimmed and the music started when I looked around at the people who sat near us and lots of the people we had seen coming into Toyota Center: they were old, or at least they looked old. But if they were old, that meant I was old, too. Right? I’m not one who takes my age into account on any given day. Looking out of my eyes, I’m like a perpetual twentysomething person. Looking in the mirror, I see the truth. Looking at all these older Springsteen fans, I see their truths.

And when Bruce himself got on stage and started the evening with “Night,” his face was broadcast on four screens hung over the stage. We had decent seats, but it was nice to have the professional camera folks giving us close ups of the Boss and the members of the E Street Band. When the camera often zoomed in on Springsteen’s face, you could see his truth as well.

The man is seventy three. Yes, he’s aged well. I hope I look as good as he does when I’m that age. Yes he has access to medical and dietary resources that help him age gracefully, but you can still see the age on his face, his eyelids, and the wrinkles around his face. You can tell that he’s not as animated as he used to be when he ran across stages, sliding on his knees, and leaping into the crowds.

But he was still thrilling, and he still put on a helluva show.

And yet I never expected to tear up at a Springsteen show. Well, I should have expected it, but when it happened, it actually moved me.

Every rock star I discovered in my youth, teens, and twenties have aged right along with me. Of course they have, you say. We’re all human. Yes, we are, but when you spin a record that came out in 1992 or 1982 or whenever, your mind can time travel back to that year and you can remember how you felt hearing those songs. In those moments, you can be that age again, even if you’re driving an SUV and taking your kids to band practice.

We got that sense of time travel on Tuesday evening with Bruce. So many of those songs are all time travel songs. That’s what they’ve become. Some songs never get old. “Born to Run”, sung at full volume with the house light up, everyone punching the air with upraised arms, will never, ever get old. But twice on Tuesday, mortality and truth entered the room and reminded us that time never stops.

In a long, spoken introduction to “Last Man Standing,” Bruce told us about he was the last person who was still alive from his first band, The Castilles. It was in this story that Bruce uttered a particularly great quote: “Death’s great gift is expanded vision.” None of us knows how many days we have, so it is necessary to make sure the lives we live are the best possible version.

The final song was just the two of us. By that I mean it was Bruce, on stage with an acoustic guitar and a harmonica, singing to everyone but, in reality, he was singing to each and every one of us like it was just him and us in a room together. “I’ll See You In My Dreams” is a song about mortality and aging and loss. But it’s also an inspirational ode, especially with the line “For death is not the end and I’ll see you in my dreams.”

On the record, it’s the last track and the last time he says those words, he talking, to us, individually and collectively. On stage, the same vibe could be felt throughout the arena as the crowd was mostly silent, listening to Bruce Springsteen tell us that he’ll see us—his fans, his friends—in his dreams. The implication is that when he finally calls it a day and stops touring, he’ll have dreams about the fifty-plus years he’s experienced life on stage.

And we’ll have memories of concerts like this as well.

When I listened to that song on the record back in 2020, I wondered if those last few words would be the last time I’d ever hear a new Bruce Springsteen song. I should have realized that his restless spirit will always create new material even if he doesn’t tour it.

When I listened to that song live in 2023, I wondered if that would be the last time I ever heard Springsteen in person. Maybe. Maybe not. But if it was, what a way to say goodbye, not with a loud, bombastic anthem, but a quiet, gentle song about aging and mortality yet filled with hope, joy, energy, and the truth that shows like this will last a lifetime.

The Specialness of Firsts: Human Touch and Lucky Town at 30

You never forget your firsts. First day of school, first kiss, first breakup, first job, first child. You also never forget the first time you bought a new album by a new-to-you musician. Human Touch and Lucky Town are those albums for me, and it was when I officially joined the ranks of Bruce Springsteen's fans.

Background

In 1984, at the height of the Born in the USA frenzy, I flat out didn't like Springsteen. That was the only album I knew of him, and then, only the radio songs. But those tunes were everywhere, yet I hadn't figured out Bruce, who he was or what he was trying to say. Dancing in the Dark was okay, but that title track, with the bizarre decision to overlay the studio song on the music video from his live performances (thus, making them out of sync), was a song I enjoyed hating and mocking. Yet I never bothered to read the lyrics.

Cut to 1987 when I discovered Stephen King, starting with Pet Semetary. This was the spring, my senior year in high school, and college life beckoned. Many times, King quoted Springsteen's lyrics. Seeing the words in text without Bruce's singing, I took a new interest in them. Not the music, mind you, but the lyrics.

When Bruce's 1987 album Tunnel of Love came out, lead single "Brilliant Disguise" turned out to be...not bad. In fact, I kind of liked it. Then, a friend gave me a cassette copy of that album (it was one of those 12-albums-for-a-penny things from Columbia House). I listened, and I liked. With open eyes and a more mature sense of music, I circled back to Born in the USA.

Whoa. This is actually pretty good, lyrics and music combined. Sure, Born in the USA was still a fun song to mock, but I slowly worked my way through the back catalog, mostly in reverse order. I quite liked The River, especially the live version with that extended introductory story Bruce relates on the box set. Took some time to get used to Nebraska, and I think I stopped at Born to Run, letting those first two Springsteen albums be that last old ones I discovered. And just like that, I was a Springsteen fan.

The Spring of 1992

It took me five years to get through college (by choice; double major) so by the spring of 1992, my eyes were focused on grad school, ideally at a university in close proximity to where my then-girlfriend would be attending medical school. I had already dipped my toe in the wonder of all those non-album tracks. I stumbled onto his song from the We Are the World album because I had already bought it for the non-album song by Chicago. My one and only time I ever called a radio station and asked about a song was when KLBJ, the local rock station in Austin, Texas, played "Roulette" and I simply had to know the song title and then go buy the CD single of the then-current song "One Step Up" to get it.

When you're graduating from college, one phase of your life is ending. Granted, I'd spend the next six years in grad school but I didn't know that in the spring of 1992. I was growing up. I was in my early twenties. My entire life was before me and I was ready for it.

Turned out, Springsteen himself was entering a new phase of his life as well. After the much-publicized marriage and divorce to Julianne Phillips, Bruce had fallen in love with Patti Scailfa, a singer in his band. I barely knew about this having never seen him live at that point and, well, no internet. Be that as it may, his new love and new status as a father permeated all the new songs he wrote during the time after Tunnel of Love. Finally, when the news broke that there was going to be new Springsteen music released, imagine my overwhelming joy to learn there would be not one album, but two.

The Albums

Two albums of material. Twenty-four songs: fourteen on Human Touch and ten on Lucky Town. On that bright spring morning thirty years ago, I woke, drove to the record store, bought the CDs, and quickly returned to my apartment. I saw in front of the stereo and just listened.

The cool sounds of Human Touch washed over me. Frankly, the title track sounded like he had not missed a beat from the sonic tapestry of Tunnel of Love. The second track, "Soul Driver," seemed to be a kindred spirit from "Cover Me." "57 Channels" was interesting, to be sure, and has reached ironic status in the age of multiple streaming channels here in 2022. "With Every Wish," with it's muted, soaring trumpet, and evocative, storytelling lyrics, has always been a favorite, and the theme of the song-With every wish, there comes a curse-is always good to keep in mind. "Roll of the Dice" and its glockenspiel is the first old-school Springsteen song of the entire record. And "I Wish I Were Blind" is a gorgeous ballad tinged with the anguish we all feel when we see an ex with someone else. If Springsteen ever records an album with an orchestra, I hope this one is in the setlist.

Human Touch is not without its weak songs. I rarely listen to album closer "Pony Boy." While "Real Man" may not be his best song, the pure joy in his words and voice is palpable. I appreciated it at the time, and very much appreciate it now.

If you assume that "Born to Run" is the best song Springsteen ever wrote, then Lucky Town opens with what has become my favorite song: "Better Days." Its exuberant optimism in where he finds himself is tempered only by the scars it took to get there. This song is one I have never forgotten, and turned to its lyrics over the years as my own life has gone through its ups and downs. In fact, verse 3 contains some of my favorite poetry Springsteen has ever penned, especially that last couplet.

Now a life of leisure and a pirate's treasure
Don't make much for tragedy
But it's a sad man, my friend, who's livin' in his own skin
And can't stand the company
Every fool's got a reason for feelin' sorry for himself
And turning his heart to stone
Tonight this fool's halfway to heaven and just a mile outta hell
And I feel like I'm comin' home

The words of "If I Should Fall Behind" resonate constantly, especially in the shows from this century when all band members take a turn at singing various lines. "Leap of Faith" is a great song anyone pondering big life decisions when dealing with a potential spouse and those wondering thoughts of whether or not you're making the right decision ring in your head. Ditto for parenthood in the lyrics of "Living Proof" and the realization that so many of the things that hold us back are self-inflicted.

You do some sad sad things, baby
When it's you you're tryin' to lose
You do some sad and hurtful things
I've seen living proof

But he returns in the very next verse to show a way out:

You shot through my anger and rage
To show me my prison was just an open cage
There were no keys, no guards
Just one frightened man and some old shadows for bars

What also runs through both of these albums is the redemptive power of love and music. I'm no deep Springsteen scholar but I think it's with these two albums that the spiritual language Springsteen now uses to great effect started. "The Rising" carries it forward (that's my third favorite song of his) and it keeps going through the Pete Seeger album, Western Stars, and Letter to You.

What the Albums and Era Mean to Me

I listened to those albums constantly back in 1992 and the years after. While I was driving by myself on the highways of central Texas, visiting potential schools to start my graduate studies in history, it was these twenty-four songs I blasted from my car, windows down, hair blowing in the wind. These songs had me constantly looking to a bright future, but they also foretold the inevitable: life is never straight with zero potholes. It is a jagged road, with the highest of highs and the lowest of lows. It is fraught with everything you might imagine-and some you couldn't.

In the past thirty years, these albums have fallen out of favor by Springsteen fans and Springsteen himself. Famously, he lamented that when he tried to write happy songs, it didn't go over well, which always struck me as odd. Don't we want our musical heroes to be happy and write songs in that vein? In fact, "Happy," a song from the Lucky Town sessions that didn't make the album, has also become one of my favorites, even making its way onto the playlist of songs at my wedding reception.

But Human Touch and Lucky Town have never lost their luster with me. I'll admit that had Springsteen whittled down the twenty-four songs to a single, albeit long, album, the result might've been stronger. But I didn't care then and, frankly, don't really care now. I gravitate to Lucky Town a tad more, but I always bring in more than half of Human Touch's songs into various playlists over the years.

It's not lost on me the place Human Touch and Lucky Town have in my Springsteen fandom. I'm the oddball. When I witnessed my first Springsteen show in December 1992 in Dallas with a couple of fellow grad students, they told tall tales about the 1984 and 1987 concerts. All those stories sounded great-and I've since discovered them and have come to enjoy those shows-but the Human Touch/Lucky Town Era is special. It's where I officially joined the entourage of Bruce's loyal fanbase. I've stayed with him ever since.

Sure, there are albums I rarely listen to-The Ghost of Tom Joad and Devils and Dust-but I bought them on day one and spun them. I was ecstatic when 1998's Tracks came out and I had four new-to-me Springsteen albums to hear. And I finally got what it was like to have the E Street Band backing him with all the hoopla surrounding The Rising when Bruce was everywhere on TV. We got the sublime Western Stars and the poignant Letter to You and, with Springsteen, you know there will likely be a new album, maybe even this year.

But on the thirtieth anniversary of Human Touch and Lucky Town, I think back to the young man I used to be, hearing these songs for the first time, and the middle-aged man I am today, when these songs have embedded themselves in the fabric of my being. Both versions of myself love and appreciate these two albums, but for different reasons. The younger me found himself inundated with joyous songs of love and redemption, with his life unfolding before him, little knowing it was about to change. The middle-aged me, the me who is about a decade older than Springsteen was when he wrote these songs, the me who is a father and husband, feels these songs differently. He's lived them, through thick and thin, and come out okay.

With lifespans being what they are, I'm more than halfway to heaven. But the music of Bruce Springsteen, and specifically Human Touch and Lucky Town, have been with me for thirty years now, and I'm so thankful for their companionship.

Cherishing a New Bruce Springsteen Song

 A couple things occurred to me on Thursday when I heard the new Bruce Springsteen song, "Letter to You," from his forthcoming album of the same name.

The most obvious one was that there was a brand-new Bruce Springsteen song! Just a day after the rumor started, the official press release drops as does the first single. It is always a great day when there's a new Springsteen tune, especially in 2020 (a damn good year for music). It struck me, however, that this one was slightly different. 

Not only was it a record with the E Street Band, but it was by an artist who had already reached the age of seventy. The Boss is seventy? Seriously? And then the video shows the entire band recording the songs for the album. It was like seeing old friends gathered again, smiling, laughing, working, creating, all in its black-and-white glory. 

The song's lyrics are mature and nuanced, deep with emotion. Hearing them, reading them as they played across the screen, I'll admit to a bit of emotion. Not nearly as much as last year's "Hello Sunshine" debut, but it was there. Why? Well, the meaning of the lyrics, of course, but also the echo of a question I hated to admit at the time: how many more days will we have that feature a new Springsteen song? 

He's seventy and the rest of the band ain't getting any younger. Unless Springsteen releases an album and unequivocably announces it is the last one, chances are we'll never know which day was the last to hear a brand-new Springsteen song. We'll be able to look back and note it, but not on that actual day.

I swept those thoughts away from the front of mind, but confess to thinking them and just relished the song.

Know what else made it special? The person I was with when I heard it.

I wake early every morning to work on my fiction writing, so I had already been alerted that the new song dropped. I had read the press release, seen the album cover, and read the tracklisting (which means little ahead of hearing the actual album). I was ready to hear the song. Last year, with "Hello Sunshine," I had listened to it about five times before my son got out of bed.

But on Thursday, I waited. My son, a college freshman, likes a few Springsteen albums and I know he'd want to hear the song before he drove to school. Well, *I* wanted him to hear it before school, so I made sure he did. Perhaps, on an unconscious level, the thoughts about The Boss not getting any younger played a role. I can't say, but I wanted to share the experience.

And it was all the more special.

It also made me think of all the other musicians, authors, and actors who I've grown up with. Some have already passed on but most of my favorites are still with us. Made me cherish them and their work all the more.

Albums of 2019: A Year of Surprises

If one word can summarize my music listening for 2019, it would be surprise.

Almost literally from the start of the year, the music I took in surprised me. The first weekend of January, my family drove to visit relatives. On the way, of all things, my son suggested we listen to Alice Cooper's Welcome 2 My Nightmare, the 2011 sequel to his 1975 album Welcome to my Nightmare. I was floored by how good that album is, with music spanning genres, and consummate musicians bringing their A Game to the music. That album not only set the stage for a great year of music, but sent me and my son on a musical journey to discover new music by legacy rock acts.

Legacy Rock Still Produces Great Music

By our definition, legacy rock are the old guard, the OG, rock stars that started in the 1960s and 1970s yet still make music. We tend to focus on albums produced in this century. I asked him what kicked off this focus on legacy rock acts. He said it was a combination of KISS: Sonic Boom (2009), Alice Cooper: Paranormal (2017), and, to some extent, Chicago XXX (2006). Songs in particular were Chicago's "Feel" and "Caroline,", KISS's "Yes I Know" and "Never Enough," and Alice Cooper's "Genuine American Girl" and "Paranormic Personality." A Christmas album that added to this was Twisted Sister's "A Twisted Christmas."

After hearing these albums, he got to thinking what other legacy rock acts made music in this century. Many of the selections were by bands who hadn't made music in awhile. Others, like Bon Jovi and Def Leppard, never stopped. He searched. I did, too. And we have now compiled some great albums that I never knew about. Maybe you didn't either.

Among the albums I enjoyed this year but released prior to 2019 were the following:

Alice Cooper - Welcome 2 Nightmare - A soundtrack to a Broadway musical I really want to see. Each track is a different style, all with a similar theme. I don't know a lot of Cooper's music, but this is by far my favorite.

Eagles - Long Road Out of Eden - This band is one I really loved in high school and college, but then just faded away. It was like I could only listen to so much  Eagles music in my lifetime and I had reached my limit. It got to where I'd change the station if any of their songs came on the radio. Then there is this album and I was reminded just how good they are. The Harmonies! Wonderful record and, sadly, the last with Glenn Frey.

Foreigner - Can't Slow Down - When a legacy band has to replace an iconic singer, most try to mimic the departed singer. Kelly Hanson does an exceptional job at the new songs. Yeah, he sounds like Lou Gramm's brother, but Hanson brings himself to the mix. The songs are really good at keeping what made early Foreigner good and updating it to this century. This one (2009) came fifteen years after their last album, the very definition of a legacy rock band releasing new music.

REO Speedwagon - Find Your Own Way Home - The first of two by a band I hadn't listened to in decades. This studio album arrived late in the year and right before the Christmas music started (and I rarely go back to non-Christmas music in this time of the year) but, again, this is proof that bands like this need to keep releasing new music. "Find Your Own Way Home" is a wonderful song with added weight because it comes from the point of view of an older  singer.

REO Speedwagon - Christmas With REO Speedwagon - This is one of four new Christmas albums I got this year. It's a nice record full of standard songs, highlighted by a pair of new-to-me songs: Children Go Where I Send You and I Believe in Santa. That latter is a great song that captures the spirit of the season and that of a parent and childhood.

Cheap Trick Christmas - Were it not for Chicago, this would be my favorite Christmas album of 2019 (even though it came out in 2017). Three originals--led by "Merry Christmas Darlings," a happy, joyful song that stops halfway through and just plays the sounds of a party, complete with children's laughter--are mixed with tunes that don't always get re-recorded. Wizzard's "I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday," Slade's "Merry Xmas Everybody," The Kinks' "Father Christmas," are perfect for Cheap Trick. Heck, we even get the Saturday Night Live's "I Wish It Was Christmas Today." But it is "Remember Christmas," by Harry Nilsson (From the Son of Dracula movie; yeah, really) that really surprised me. Love this album for its harder-edged yet still fun take on seasonal songs.

Legacy Rock Still Inspires

Frontiers Music keeps the flame of melodic and AOR rock alive. Back in January, I downloaded their sampler and was happily surprised by just about every song. But two songs propelled me to buy full albums by two of the bands.

Perfect Plan - All Rise - This band from Sweden could easily have been making music in the 1970s and 1980s. Their sound is right from the mold of hard rock bands with keyboard. Think Queensrhyche, Europe, (another Swedish band), Deep Purple, Foreigner, and more. Lead singer Kent Hilli has the pipes to keep up with the elders of rock with a voice reminiscent of Lou Gramm mixed with Geoff Tate and, frankly, just his own style. Speaking of styles, the different songs hearken back to earlier bands and styles, but Perfect Plan provides a good filter, making them all uniquely their own. A nice, heavy, melodic hard rock album.

One Desire - One Desire - If Perfect Plan draws from the harder-edge bands of the past, then One Desire takes a slight left, pulling from Journey, Asia, Toto, and Trans-Siberian Orchestra. One Desire slides closer to the hair metal side of the 80s which is perfectly fine with me. Love that stuff, and One Desire picks up that vibe and runs with it to the 21st Century. Lead singer André Linman is as melodic a singer as Geoff Tate and Steve Perry and James LaBrie (Dream Theater), and the songs are equal to his powerful voice. "Falling Apart" is a quintessential power ballad, but it was "Hurt" (the one song on that sampler) that made me sit up and take notice.

A Year of Surprises

Not only was 2019 a year of wonderful surprises at discovering albums released prior to this year, but we got some fantastic material actually released this year. None more surprising than Bruce Springsteen's Western Stars. The Boss ditched the E Street Band for an orchestra and produced Western Stars, a wonderful album that was exactly what I wanted to hear this year. "Hello Sunshine" was the lead single. I listened to it about eight times on the last Friday of April--release day. I don't know why, but I got emotional on first listen. Happened multiple times that morning. Something about that song, the music, the words, that really struck my heart.

When the album was released in June, it just proved again and again that Western Stars is one of my all-time favorite Springsteen albums. The one-two punch of "There Goes My Miracle" followed by "Hello Sunshine" might be my favorite sequenced pair of songs in his entire discography.

Western Stars was my favorite record of the year until Chicago released Chicago 37: Christmas 2019. My son didn't think a holiday album should be the best of the year, but as I told him, Chicago 37, with it's nearly full album of original songs, is a Chicago album that just uses the trappings and vocabulary of Christmas to craft a new album.

After fifty-two years as a band, thirty-seven albums, and my personal thirty-four years as a fan, I experienced something unexpected when I listened to Chicago Christmas 2019: it surprised me. For better or worse, when I listened to XXXIII for the first time, I could actually guess the horn breaks and musical choices. Ditto for Chicago XXX. Some of that is in play here, but not as much.

Maybe it's my age (I'm fifty-one), maybe it's the more melancholy vibe to some of the songs, but Chicago Christmas 2019 hit me squarely in my heart. The holidays always are emotional, running the gamut from nostalgia of childhood to the more mature emotions of being a parent. Somehow, this collection of songs captures that spirit in an unexpected way, making it my favorite album of 2019.

Other new albums that surprised me are:

Midland - Let It Roll - This sophomore album by this Texas band is the best country album I've heard in a long, long time. We listen to the local country radio station to and from church every Sunday. We often joke that modern country is really just pop music with the occasional fiddle and steel guitar thrown in. Which makes songs like the ones Midland plays stand out. Their songs sound like country. Back in 2017, their song "Drinkin' Problem" was the key to me discovering them. Bought that album and eagerly awaited the new 2019 record. In all my years of buying music, I have never gone out to a store on release day to buy a country album. Let It Roll changed that. Excellent album. Every song is a winner. Have to admit that "Fourteen Gears" would fit easily in a playlist with Western Stars songs. And "Mr. Lonely" served as inspiration for my latest novel.

Up until Chicago 37, this was going to be the runner-up to favorite album of the year behind Springsteen. It easily is my favorite country album of the year. Both of them count as my favorite country albums of the decade.

Tesla - Shock - Up until 2019, I had never owned a Tesla CD. I could name exactly one song--"Love Song". I enjoyed it, but I don't think I've thought of Tesla in decades. The best definition of legacy rock bands making new music. Turns out, Shock is a dang good record. These guys still rock hard, as evidenced by the title track and "Tied to the Tracks." But they can also craft wonderful radio-friendly songs like my favorite from the album, "California Summer Song." Tesla is coming to Houston next year. Think I'll go see them.

Whitesnake - Flesh and Blood - If I basically never knew Tesla, I absolutely knew Whitesnake. "Here I Go Again" is one of my favorite hair metal songs of the 1980s. Still, I hadn't given Whitesnake or singer David Coverdale hardly any thought in years. So when it was announced Whitesnake would release a new album in 2019 and with the new focus on legacy rock, I certainly would give it a listen. Holy moley! These guys haven't lost a step! Granted, the mold of this music isn't too different than their 1980s heyday but I don't care. It is exactly what I want from a Whitesnake album. Lead single, "Shut Up and Kiss Me," is a perfect fist-pumping, head-bopping, driving with the windows down song, but it's "Always and Forever" that proves to be my favorite song from the album. It is basically the main song from a 1980s teen movie directed by John Hughes, the kind that would play as a montage when the students of a high school from all social strata--the jocks, the cheerleaders, the nerds, the emos--come together to decorate the gym for the big end-of-school dance. Yup.You can hear it now, can't you? Doesn't mean it's not a fantastic song.

Jason Scheff - Here I Am - My discovery of Chicago came in 1985, the same year founding member Peter Cetera left the band. As such, Scheff was in the band when I started seeing them in 1987. He was in the band when they released my favorite 1980s-era album--Chicago 19--the brilliant Stone of Sisyphus, the great big band CD, and three of the four Christmas albums. When he left, I was saddened. He was my guy.

So when he finally released his second solo album in November, I was so excited. I was a little  surprised it included five Chicago songs, but he makes them his own, especially "Will You Still Love Me." But it's the new material I really love, especially the title track and "Wonderful Day," basically a Chicago song. His voice is bright and clear and powerful. My wife, who is Chicago Adjacent (that is, she likes them but not to my level) even commented how good Scheff sounds.

The Verdict

The year 2019 was great for new and new-to-me music. And with more legacy music already on the schedule for 2020--new Ozzy! New Springsteen? New Cooper?--the new decade is going to kick off great.

Here's a link to my favorite songs of 2019.

Year of an Indie Writer: Week 24

Slow week that ended on a high note.

As I mentioned last week, I'm backing away from the every day blogging for a bit. I considered a Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday schedule...and didn't get my act together to do that this week. Still, I reviewed John Wick and Dead Poets Society at 30.

Alas, no new fiction written this week. But proofing on BRIDES OF DEATH continues well. It'll make its 1 July publication.

I did, however, get some new ideas for future stories, so that's always a good thing. Wrote them all down for my future self.

Weird. In January when I started this series, I didn't expect to have weeks in which there would be zero new writing. But that's the reality right now. I could blame life stuff, but it's not that. It's just a blank.

Which I why I'm filling up the bucket by reading new and different things.

Reading List

The novel I'm reading is one I picked up on my vacation to Corpus Christi, Texas, last week: THE SCAM by Linda Evanovich and Lee Goldberg. By my own memory, I have not read any of the Fox and O'Hare series. Yes, this isn't the first one, but I've long decided to go with the book that caught my eye and read it rather than go "Hey, this book looks cool, but it's the fourth title, so I better go back and read the first three and only then get to the book that caught my eye." Yeah, that never happens anymore.

On audio, I'm listening to two non-fiction books. AMERICAN MOONSHOT by Douglas Brinkley is helping me get ready for next month's 50th anniversary of the moon landing. BTW, it is this book that gave me my ideas.

The other audiobook dropped just this week: SONGS OF AMERICA: PATRIOTISM, PROTEST, AND THE MUSIC THAT MADE A NATION by Jon Meacham and Tim McGraw. Both co-authors narrate the book. So far, McGraw reads the lyrics to the songs (from the 1700s), but I hope as we get to the 20th Century, they'll actually play the songs. This book seems tailor made for audio. Man, can Meacham write some glowing prose.

Record of the Week (Month and Year)

Bruce Springsteen's Western Stars.

So excited was I for this record (based off the three singles released ahead of the album) that my routine yesterday morning was altered. I woke, started listening, and only then visited the restroom and snagged my coffee.

As of this writing, I've heard the album all the way through twice. Gorgeous music. So many things to say about this record the words are tumbling over each other. I'll have an in-depth review probably next week, but this is the Album of the Year for me. I can't imagine any other record can top this, especially the emotional reaction on first listen.

The fourth single, Western Stars, also dropped yesterday. Here's the video:

First Pop Cultural Loves: Are They Still Your Favorites?

No matter what type of pop culture thing we enjoy, there was always that first time.

The first time you heard a song from your favorite band.
The first time you saw your favorite movie.
The first time you read a book by your favorite author.

But do those particular firsts remain high on your Favorites Lists or do they fall in the rankings?

Let me give you some personal examples.

Star Wars

I am part of the Star Wars Generation. The first Star Wars movie I saw was the first one, in a theater, in 1977. It has remained my favorite on an emotional level primarily because if I sit and watch it just so, the movie is a time machine and I'm back to being a nine-year-old kid again with nary a care in the world. The Empire Strikes Back is also a bit of a time machine because it arrived just as I graduated from elementary school. The movie's ending showed me the heroes don't always win. What the heck was that? Return of the Jedi, at the time, was an awesome film, but over time, as I've become an adult and a writer, I can see its faults. So, too, the other films in the franchise. Some are better than others (Rogue One), some deserve a re-watch and re-evaluation (The Phantom Menace), while others deserve respect for trying to do something different (The Last Jedi).

My brain puts Empire as my favorite of the franchise, but my heart will always remain with Star Wars.

Music

KISS was my first favorite band. I discovered them in 1978 with Double Platinum (a hits collection) and then made my way to the studio and live albums. I was limited to the number of albums I could buy, but Destroyer ranked high in my list as a kid. Over time, however, Alive! (1975) is now my favorite KISS album.

When David Bowie landed on my radar in 1983, Let's Dance was everywhere. In the 80s, I loved his 80s material. The 1987 Glass Spider Tour was the first of three times I saw Bowie live. But over time, I've changed. Now, if push came to shove and I was asked my favorite album, I'd probably pick 2000's Live at the Beeb.

Chicago 17 was out when I finally discovered Chicago in 1985. A year later, Chicago 18 was my first purchased album. Now, it's not even my favorite Chicago album of the 80s. I rarely listen to it, instead focusing on the early material with their first record, CTA, my now favorite. Chicago 18 doesn't even crack my top 10.

Invisible Touch was my first Genesis album, but Duke and Foxtrot are the ones I like the best (I get two choices, a Peter Gabriel and a Phil Collins). Speaking of those two, it was So and No Jacket Required that were my first true introductions to them (although, for Collins, it was really "Take a Look at Me Now.") and those records remain my favorites. Synchronicity was my first and favorite Police record, yet Sting's 1999 solo record, Brand New Day, that tops my list now.

Authors

Pet Sematary was my first Stephen King novel, but it's nowhere near my favorite. Mystic River by Dennis Lehane, on the other hand, remains my favorite by him. Right as Rain was my first George Pelecanos but Hard Revolution stands as my favorite. I first read one of Erle Stanley Gardner's Perry Mason novels, but now I prefer the Cool and Lam books.

Television

The same applies to TV shows. I discovered The X-Files in 1996 or so, but quickly grew to appreciate the early-to-mid 1990s seasons vs. the latter ones. I loved Castle from day one, but the midway part of the series was just spectacular. I didn't jump on the Friends bandwagon until a season or two in, but I actually enjoyed most of the later seasons. Star Trek: The Next Generation's first couple of seasons were good, but they hit their stride in season three. It must have had something to do with Riker's beard.

It's Bruce Springsteen's Fault

What prompted this was when I bought and listened to a 30-song 1992 concert by Bruce Springsteen (from nugs.net). For me, I discovered Springsteen in 1989 or so. Tunnel of Love was his most recent record. By 1992, when Human Touch and Lucky Town were released, they were my first new Springsteen records.

And I realized something: those two are my favorites of his. Yes, Born to Run is an excellent album. Yes, The Rising is amazing. Yes, Born in the USA is almost the perfect 80s album. But if I had to take one album from Springsteen's catalog, it would be Human Touch and Lucky Town. [I've always considered them basically a double album.]


I could think of others, but I think you get the idea.

So, has the first introduction to your favorite pop culture things remained your favorite?

Year of an Indie Writer: Week 20

It's all in the details.

Proofing the Hardcopy of Aztec Sword

Always, always order a hard copy of your books printed by Amazon.

When you create a paperback via Amazon (or IngramSpark), you are provided with a template. On the template are the bleed areas and the bar code space. It is incumbent on you to design your cover with those lines and boundaries in mind.

Amazon also has a great online viewer where you can proof your book electronically. It's good, because it has all the borders marked. But sometimes, you just need the paper.

Because of mistakes like this.

That's all on me. I got this text as close to the bar code as possible in my design program. Clearly, I got it too close. The spine's text also was misaligned, so I've got more than one thing to fix.

The interior is good. Vellum is a good program that takes care of all the little details so you don't have to. It also makes ebooks, so this is a key piece of software for any independent writer.

Oh, and Amazon now puts this banner across the whole cover.

The End of The Big Bang Theory

Strangely, I didn't watch this show out of the gate. I don't hardly watch anything live at 7pm CST. But when it finally landed on my radar, the family and I bought the DVDs and caught up. Ironically, we didn't watch live, but we watched both episodes on Thursday.

For many of these long-running shows, the characters face some big change and move out of the apartment or bar or whatever. But what I loved about the series finale of TBBT was that we now know things will continue just as they have for the past twelve years...we just won't be seeing their lives. Babies will be born, children will grow up in this wonderful make-shift family, and they finally have a working elevator. Come on. That's not a spoiler. You knew going in the thing would finally work.

Anyway, loved the finale. Well done.

Game of Thrones: Leave the Creators Alone

I love being a geek who has seen very little of this series. It just didn't do it for me. My wife enjoys it and, up until this month, always watched the shows via binging when HBO offered a week's worth of free programming. But for Mother's Day, I bought her HBO so she could watch the end live.

And I actually sat in for most of last week's episode. I'll also tune in tomorrow live. I think by Sunday, I'll have watched something like six or seven full episodes. With my wife's running commentary, I get caught up.

As a Star Wars fan who loved The Last Jedi and groused about those fans who signed petitions trying to get Disney to remake Episode VIII, I rolled my eyes this week as GOT fans wanted a do-over of this season.

Really?

I can imagine one day we'll have some famous author write a blockbuster book and they'll be fans demanding the publisher re-write it to their tastes. Sigh.

Always Have an Answer

Last week, at Houston's Comicpalooza, a friend of mine asked me why I haven't written any genre stories that would find a home at a geek convention. It was an honest question and one to which I didn't have a good and ready answer. I fell back on my humorous answer as to how I came up with my western hero, Calvin Carter: Growing up a SF geek kid, I discovered mystery fiction as an adult, so naturally I ended up writing a western.

It prompted me to examine my writing to date and I arrived at an answer: I enjoy writing thrillers, mysteries, and westerns.

But I think I'll be trying my hand at some SF before year's end. It might even be this summer.

Podcast of the Week

Blockbuster. It's fantastic. It is an immersive podcast, completed scripted like a radio show, about how Steven Spielberg and George Lucas, with John Williams, created their massive films of the 1970s. How good is this series? When Lucas and Spielberg face challenges to their productions, you can't help but be worried for them...and we KNOW the answer! Check it out.

Book of the Week

Marvel Comics: The Untold Story by Sean Howe. I bought this on Audible when it was a daily deal, but highly recommended...and I'm not even finished.

Song of the Week

Could it be anything other than the second single from Bruce Springsteen's new album? Just listen to the lush orchestration. And the chimes!

Favorite Songs by Year - 2019 Edition

I saw a tweet by writer/podcaster Marc Benardin last week in which the exercise was to choose a favorite song for each year you've been alive. Easy. The only caveat: you can only choose one song per artist. Not easy.

You see, I am a hard-core fan of my Four Pillars of Rock. They are, in chronological order of how I discovered them: KISS, David Bowie, Chicago, and Bruce Springsteen. For each one of these bands I could pick a favorite song per year. Mostly. But with this exercise, that was off that table. Then comes the real question: what song do you pick for your favorite bands? Throw in Genesis and Sting into this conundrum as well. I went ahead and applied this rule to composer John Williams because, let's be honest: I could easily select fifty great pieces of music by the composer of Star Wars and Raiders of the Lost Ark.

There were some years in which the favorite song leaped into my head (1969, 1999, 2015, 2016). Other years in which I had to select a song that I liked but don’t love (2011). Then there were years (like 1975, 1977, 1984, 1989, 2004, 2016) in which there were so many good songs I ended up having to cast aside songs I truly love and listen to constantly.

But what ended up happening was by restricting the number of songs I could select, it actually ended up becoming a more freeing exercise. For example, if I could not choose Chicago's "25 or 6 to 4" fin 1970, then I was now able to choose a Beatles song.

So, here's my list, broken out by decade, with notes on a few.

1968 - All Along the Watchtower - Jimi Hendrix
1969 - Introduction - Chicago

1970 - Let It Be - The Beatles
1971 - One Fine Morning - Lighthouse*
1972 - Supper's Ready - Genesis
1973 - Band on the Run - Wings
1974 - Miles Out to Sea - Slade
1975 - 100,000 Years (live) - KISS**
1976 - Hotel California - Eagles
1977 - Star Wars, Extended Version - Meco (aka Disco!)***
1978 - Summer Nights - Grease soundtrack
1979 - Rainbow Connection - Muppet Movie

*Another favorite horn rock band out of Canada. I take a daily walk around my office building and this song is one of the ones I choose often.

**Not my favorite KISS song, but if I have to choose only one tune, here, I get an 11-minute tune with Paul's singing, Gene's bass solo, Ace's guitar solo, and a Peter drum solo. Plus, Paul's stage rant.

***I love the disco version of Star Wars, and this 15-minute song gets every major theme from the movie. Plus disco!


1980 - Back in Black - AC/DC
1981 - Under Pressure - Queen and David Bowie
1982 - Hooked on Classics
1983 - Separate Ways - Journey
1984 - Heaven - Bryan Adams
1985 - The Power of Love - Huey Lewis
1986 - Livin' on a Prayer - Bon Jovi
1987 - I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For - U2*
1988 - Lead Me On - Amy Grant
1989 - The End of the Innocence - Don Henley

*Brilliant Disguise was the song that turned me onto Springsteen, but it doesn't make this list.

1990 - Silent Lucidity - Queensryche
1991 - Enter Sandman - Metallica
1992 - Pull Me Under - Dream Theater
1993 - Rock and Roll Dreams Come true - Meat Loaf
1994 - Singin’ with the Big Bands - Barry Manilow*
1995 - Peace Prayer - Clarence Clemons
1996 - Christmas Eve (Sarajevo) - Trans-Siberian Orchestra
1997 - Follow Me - Pat Metheny Group
1998 - Basic Instructions - Burlap to Cashmere
1999 - Desert Rose - Sting

*I could have easily selected The Brian Setzer Orchestra's "Lady Luck" but the historian in me is drawn to Manilow's recitation of famous big bands in this tune.

2000 - Absolute Beginners (live from Bowie at the Beeb) - David Bowie*
2001 - The Middle - Jimmy Eat World
2002 - The Rising - Bruce Springsteen
2003 - It's a Groove, This Life - Robert Lamm
2004 - Black Crow - Diana Krall
2005 - Mother India - Caedmon's Call
2006 - Crazy - Gnarls Barkley
2007 - One More Night With You - Brian Setzer Orchestra
2008 - Sister Lost Soul - Alejandro Escovedo
2009 - Haven't Met You Yet - Michael Buble

*Absolute Beginners (1986) is probably my favorite Bowie song, and this live show is my favorite concert he's released. Only bad thing: Had to jettison The Howland-Imboden Project's "Inching Towards..." (2000), but I got the Bon Jovi song on 1986.

2010 - City Noir - John Adams (as performed by Gustavo Dudamel and the Los Angeles Philharmonic)*
2011 - I Am Made of You - Alice Cooper**
2012 - Cinnamon Tree - Esperanza Spalding
2013 - Give Life Back to Music - Daft Punk***
2014 - Gimme a Feelin' - Ace Frehley
2015 - Uptown Funk - Bruno Mars, Mark Ronson
2016 - Put Your Money on Me - The Struts****
2017 - Cumberland Gap - Jason Isbell
2018 - On the Soul Side of Town - Tower of Power
2019 - In and Out of Love - Perfect Plan*****

*Saw a performance of this classical piece on PBS and was hooked. Even got a chance to see Adams conduct the Houston Symphony Orchestra doing this work. Turned me on to modern classical music.

**Here's ironic timing: as of 4 January 2019, I had never heard this song or album. But I love it. This song, with its dramatic entry of electric guitar, is everything you'd want to hear in an Alice Cooper song.

***Had never heard of Daft Punk, but I bought this album because of this song. The entire album is one of the best of this decade.

****This was THE song that turned me onto The Struts. In fact, it was purely the opening chord. This will likely be my favorite song of the decade, edging out Uptown Funk by a hair. And, in a week, I finally get to see the band live!

*****As of 26 April 2019, with the debut of the new Bruce Springsteen song, "Hello Sunshine," the category of Favorite Song of 2019 is now over. One word review: Gorgeous.

It's been three years since I had an emotional reaction to a song on first listen. That one, The Struts' "Put Your Money on Me," was joy. This one was simultaneously happy, melancholy, and nostalgic. It was like a song from my childhood I hadn't heard in decades, yet it's a tune my fifty-year-old self experienced for the first time. I didn't roll a tear, but they were in there. And, as I listened to this song about fourteen times on Friday, the emotions came over me more than once. Still don't understand it, but I'm good with it. Beautiful song. Instant classic Springsteen song for me.

If this is any indication of how the rest of the new album is, then the contest for Favorite Album of 2019 is done.

Yet as much as I love that song, I'm still going to keep "The Rising" on this list.


I hope you enjoyed this list. Turns out, I did something similar back in 2017. I'd love to see your list. Post the link in the comments.

Tune in Tomorrow...

For thoughts on Avengers: Endgame

Year of an Indie Writer: Week 17

Well, it turned out to be a writing-centric week, capped off by a triumvirate of awesomeness yesterday: finished a book, heard a new Springsteen song (something like 14 times), and watched the final movie a decade in the making.

Writing Tips Are Always Welcome

Four of the six posts since last week's entry of the Year of an Indie Writer series focused on learning. Dean Wesley Smith discussed how writers think they've gone the 'wrong' way with a story, but authors are often the worst judges of our own work. I experience that literally this month.

I revisited lessons from pulp fiction legend Frank Gruber, and ended the week talking about the things we can actually control (part 1 and part 2). There's only so much over which we writers have dominion and it's best not to worry about everything else. Easier said than done, sometimes, but it'll ultimately prove beneficial.

Aztec Sword is Done

I mentioned last week I finished proofing the latest Calvin Carter novel, but felt it needed another chapter. Actually, it turned into four. But the story now feels complete with an ending I like.

But it was touch and go for the first half of the week. With a "only one more chapter" mentality, I realized I couldn't fit in all I wanted in one chapter. That gave me some heartache because I was not going to change my publication date of 1 May.

And yesterday, I put the last period on the book. Whew!

But what is it about?

Aztec Sword Description

Actor turned detective Calvin Carter stands on his favorite place--a stage--when armed bandits attack. Carter and his partner, Thomas Jackson, foil the robbery, and the surviving gunman snitches the name of the mystery man who hired the gang.

Both men soon die, taking their secrets to the grave.

Turns out, the entire robbery was an elaborate distraction. In the melee, a master thief with a unique calling card swipes a prized artifact: a macuahuitl, an Aztec sword, dating back to the Spanish conquest of the New World.

But when Carter and Jackson are assigned to track down and recover the sword, those men who know about the macuahuitl start dying, one by one. If Carter and Jackson aren't careful, they will be next.

Bruce Springsteen's New Song: Hello Sunshine

Well, the contest for Favorite Song of 2019 is over.

One word review: Gorgeous.

It's been three years since I had an emotional reaction to a song on first listen. That one was joy. This one was simultaneously happy, melancholy, and nostalgic. It was like a song from my childhood, yet it's a tune my fifty-year-old self experienced for the first time. I didn't roll a tear, but they were in there. Beautiful song. Instant classic Springsteen song for me.

If this is any indication of how the rest of the new album is, then the contest for Favorite Album of 2019 is done.

Just listen.

Avengers: Endgame

Saw it.

Loved it.

Perfect ending to a decade of movies.

How's that for a spoiler-free review?

Tune in Tomorrow...

For a special post about an album that turns 50.