JonMichael is Neither Jon nor Michael

Rock And Roll Music by Chuck Berry (#9 in 1957)

Simply anthemic.  Chuck Berry shows everyone how its done.  This is most simplified condensation of someone’s beliefs about something since John 1:1-16.  Add Chuck’s classic guitar and his glowing admiration for the subject while still being detcahed enough to be cool and you get simple perfection.  It may seem a shame that this was only a #9, but with great tunes from Elvis, The Everlys, Sam Cooke, Buddy Holly and Johnny Mathis cluttering up the chart, there was only so far you could go.  Who says rock began in 1964?

Bloglines 2/05

Top 50 RSS feeds of those over 5,000 subscribers on Bloglines
February 2005
1. Slashdot
2. Wired News
3. Boing Boing
4. Dilbert
5. Gizmodo
6. Google's Blog
7. The New York Times (Main Page)
8. Engadget
9. Quote of the Day
10. Joel on Software
11. CNet News
12. The Register
13. Scientific American
14. Salon
15. A List Apart
16. BBC News (World Edition)
17. Kuro5hin
18. Techdirt
19. BBC News (Technology)
20. The New York Times (Technology)
21. Snopes
22. Slate Magazine
23. PC Magazine (New Products)
24. Dictionary.com's Word of the Day
25. Cool Tools
26. Zeldman

Biggest Gainer: Engadget rose from #10 to #8
Biggest Faller: Quotes of the Day fell from #8 to #9
Top Ten Trends: Engadget climbs against Quotes of the Day and Joel on Software. This marks the seocnd straight month of Engadget's gains.
Biggest Debut: #26 Zeldman.com

Peggy Sue by Buddy Holly (#3 in 1957)

Buddy Holly’s final top ten was this classic about the girl he loved. There is something really American about Buddy Holley that even Elvis never quite mastered. Sort of exicited, well-intentioned and naïve all at once. Like you could just sing “pretty, pretty, pretty” and mean it and the girl would love you. Of course, she’d also have that guitar to contend with and whole lotta charm from Mr. Holly himself. Who knows? Maybe he would have made records that sounded like “My Ding-a-ling” but I don’t think so. We missed even before he was gone.

Raunchy by Bill Justis (#2 in 1957)

Raunchy, huh? Well, it wouldn’t make a very good soundtrack for adult entertainment. Still, it has a driving beat and a saxophone that’s all over the map. With no singing or words, all I can say is that this one is the best of the Raunchys of its day but that’s not a great compliment either. Watch for the flat sax notes! But if you were to ask me why this is an OK song, I’d say it Justis.

April Love by Pat Boone (#1 in 1957)

It’s worth noting that Pat Boone’s decline was imminent. Black groups were starting to hit the charts with their own hits and Elvis was easily the faster rising star. So, this here we sit near the end of his legacy with the middle of his 3 number ones. The only thing that distinguishes this song is that it should have come out in April. I also think it was in a movie. Oh, and it was an original tune to Pat (his #1s all were). He should have stayed on TV. This is the last number one of 1957!

My Special Angel by Bobby Helms (#7 in 1957)

Back when a top ten list held Elvis (rock), Ricky Nelson (pop), Sam Cooke (R&B), The Rays (doo wop) and this (country), you’d have to wonder why a song would peak where it did. Most country of this time (‘ceptin’ the Everlys who some say isrock and some say is country) never made it past #5. “My Special Angel” didn’t but that’s because, well, its a little weak. Good song with a few weird “er” vowels and no beat kind of removes it from the running for “classic” status. Helms other top ten will be a different story.

State of the Union

For those who've never seen a "State of the Union" address, it will be tomorrow.  The procedure is: If the President sees his shadow, there'll be six more years of war.