Friday and the Random 10 (Almost Forgot Edition)

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Friday and the Random 10 (Condition Critical Edition)

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My Favorite Not-So-Popular Christmas Songs

Everyone has their favorite Christmas songs. Some are well known, some are not. Here are my faves that are probably not known to many people.

Well, most people may know this one. It's a very young Greg Lake (from Emerson Lake & Palmer) with "I Believe in Father Christmas":

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Not to be outdone, here's the lead singer of Yes, Jon Anderson, with one of those videos of recording the song videos. His song is called "Easier Said Than Done". It's from his Three Ships Christmas album.

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Now for this last one I'm digging deep. This was also by members of Yes, drummer Alan White and bass player Chris Squire on vocals. It's called "Run With the Fox".

Across the bridge of many ways

Run with the fox

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Sound Chaser (11/20)

I'm not sure why this song popped in my head today. It's not even a song I barely remember, but I couldn't get it out of my head even though I didn't know the lyrics. 

Oh well, enjoy:

Emerson, Lake & Palmer/Tiger in a Spotlight

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Friday and the Random 10 (High Infidelity Edition)

Welcome to a new and improved, simplified and stripped down Random 10! 

Here's a picture.

Friday and the Random 10 (Snowblind Edition)

Welcome to a new and improved, simplified and stripped down Random 10! 

Here's a picture.

JY is a bad mofo.

YES Family Tree

This is from the YesYears box set and shows the many incarnations of Yes, and how they connect to other bands such as King Crimson, Asia, The Moody Blues, ELP and Genesis (up to 1991).

Friday and the Random 10 (100 Years of Roy Edition)

Okay, yeah I missed another Friday last week (and the one before that too), but I have a really good excuse this time. Most of you may know that I work as an engineer on the Walt Disney World Railroad. One of our steam trains, the Roy O. Disney (Walt's brother), reached its 100th birthday! We had a centennial celebration with special pics in the morning (see below), a BBQ cookout, and then a formal get together later that night at the Contemporary Resort. It was a full day and an event I am proud to say I was a part of. That's me standing on the top of the tender in the middle.

But we are here for music, so let's get back to that:

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Friday and the Random 10 (Life is Just a Fantasy Edition)

Oh man. Not a lot of time for talk. Too tired. Working the holidays at Disney sucks. Enjoy some music:

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Friday and the Random 10 (Rock & Roll HOF Edition)

So, the new nominees are out for the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and most of it just leaves me scratching my head. Rock & Roll?!? You keep using that phrase but I don't think it means what you think it means. Chic? Janet Jackson? Chaka Khan? Let me say that again. Umm, Chaka Kahn? I feel for you honey. I do, but no.

This isn't a music HOF, it's rock & roll! I voted for The Cars, Chicago (yeah I know I give them a hard time but the 70's stuff is legendary), Deep Purple, and of course, the most deserving in the universe and basically how the frack are they not in there already, YES.

P.S. Who the Hell are The J.B.'s? And N.W.A.??? Not on my planet. My world is more like this:

He Had White Horses...

Emerson, Lake & Palmer

Lucky Man

Friday and the Random Ten (Buckle Up Edition)

Hey, did you know baseball season started? Oh, wait they have to talk about Wisconsin and Duke for another few days. So much for choosing Kentucky in my bracket. It's a good thing I don't do that for money. And Bama has a coach now in former NBA player Avery Johnson. His press conference was amazing. When the University of Alabama calls, you pick up the phone. #BuckleUp

Before we get things going, how about that Random Ten last week? You can take a quick review by following this link, or trying to figure out the artists from the cool picture below: 

As always the rules and whatnot are up there ↑ at the top next to the Home tab.

Friday and the Random 10 (Sweet 16 Edition)

Ever since my bracket imploded last week, I have not really paid much attention to the NCAA tournament anymore. Even the NIT lost me once Bama lost (though we did win in the first round...booya!). This weekend rolls in the Sweet 16 so the quality is a lot better. Hopefully this holds true for the Random 10 as well. But first, as a quick review of last week, you can follow this link, or try and figure out the artists from the cool picture below: 

As always the rules and whatnot are up there ↑ at the top next to the Home tab.

Friday and the Random 10 (5 Star Edition)

Well how was that for a Super Bowl? Not bad huh? I wasn't too far off with my prediction of New England by a score of 33-30 (it was actually 28-24). Seriously though Seattle, run the damn ball.

In bigger and better news though, Bama pulled in yet another #1 recruiting class. Ho hum. It would be really nice if we got some to stay for the senior year instead of bolting for the NFL. That's what happens when you sign all those 5 star recruits. #BamaProblems

Let's see how many stars this week's Random 10 would get! But first, as a quick review of last week, you can follow this link, or check out the cool picture below: 

As always the rules and whatnot are up there ↑ at the top next to the Home tab.

Friday and the Random 10 (Tarkus Free Edition)

After last week, I am not really sure how this edition will go. Exile Island seems to be filling up, even though I have been deleting a lot of technically unnecessary crap from my music inventory. I have also been adding more "solid" stuff for a more rounded experience. I hope the effects start to show soon.

Speaking of that Exile Island, it currently looks like this:

Friday and the Random 10 (Hot Seat Edition)

Wow, that was a quick week. I have a schedule I try to keep up with during the week so I know which shows are on and what posts to write (you know, to develop that cult following). It has been a lot easier since I switched to morning shifts and can watch prime time shows. I'm also trying to find a sponsor. I'm looking at you Chek and all your delicious flavors! At some point maybe someone will pay me money to NOT use their product.

So anyway, back to the matters at hand. Looking back at last week, some people should just buy a permanent home on Exile Island. 

Maybe I should do something like Monopoly and the number of times you get exiled you get island credit to build a house or hotel or something. Hmm, see this is how I get my dumb ideas for stuff. My brain is exploding right now...

As usual the rules and whatnot are up there ↑ at the top. I still feel like a badass knowing how to do arrows. Hey sometimes it's the small victories in life.

Shut up and play your music Von!

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1) Jon Anderson/Flowers of the Morning - This is from his Celtic album "The Promise Ring". He sounds like an elf anyway and belongs in the shire.

2) Alabama/Old Flame - This is how I like my country music. That, and the name obviously.

3) Journey/Open the Door - Great old school stuff. How's this for an album cover:

4) Rick Wakeman/Men in Suits - Viggle has no idea and neither did I.

5) Rush/High Water - Intelligent rock from the masters. We are from the water and wish to return there.

6) Jimmy Buffett/Volcano - Well the IQ level just dropped from that last song, but hey sometimes we need to grab a cocktail and head to the beach. It's just a different way of heading to the water.

7) Emerson, Lake and Palmer/Change - Never heard this song before or even this album. Most appropriate album cover for my life though. Train!

8) Nektar/Away from Asgard - They show up a lot and Viggle still has no clue. Maybe because they're European or something. I know they aren't British. Wiki says German. Okay then.

9) Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (Soundtrack)/Mean Mr Mustard - From one of my guilty pleasures. I love this movie with Peter Frampton and the Bee Gees and do not care who knows it.

10) Snow Patrol/Open Your Eyes - Wait, that's after 1986! I do try to be somewhat contemporary. I just don't find much that I like. Always open to suggestions.

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Well that wraps it up. I will say that at this point at least one act is making it off the island! I didn't want to jinx it by saying anything before, but since we are down to the STCS I feel that the odds are pretty good.

Here we go. Deep breath. The STCS is The Beatles/Piggies. Dammit, so close. I shouldn't have said anything. One more try: The Commodores/Sail On. Oh yeah, the pride of Tuskegee, Alabama. This song hits me inside so I'm going to let it play us out.

My Top 10 Favorite Instrumentals

When I first got the idea for this post I just listed a bunch of songs down the page. I noticed a lot of music acts had done several that I like. So what I did was to limit everyone to just one appearance. Get it? Got it? Good.

I'm sure I missed some obvious ones too, but here are my top ten favorite instrumentals:

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10) King Crimson/Red

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9) Kansas/Musicatto

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8) The Alan Parsons Project/I Robot

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7) Vangelis/Chariots of Fire

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6) Rick Wakeman/Catherine of Aragon

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5) Journey/Kohoutek

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4) Trans-Siberian Orchestra/Christmas Eve Sarajevo 12/24

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3) Rush/La Villa Strangiato

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2) Emerson Lake & Palmer/Canario

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1) Yes (Steve Howe)/Mood For a Day

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Others considered:

Yes (Steve Howe)/Masquerade

Emerson Lake & Palmer/Changing States, Fanfare for the Common Man, Hoedown

The Nice/Ars Longa Vita Brevis (4th Movt.)

Def Leppard/Switch 625

Rush/YYZ

Trans-Siberian Orchestra/Moonlight and Madness

Journey/Topaz

Friday and the Random 10 (Football is Back Edition)

You all know I love me some baseball. The pennant races are heating up as the season is winding down, but wait? What is that on my TV? Is that college football I see? Is it time for my beloved Crimson Tide to start its march for (hopefully) another national championship? Yes it is. Booyah!

It also means that fall is coming, and hopefully, soon enough, cooler weather down here. The temps down here are still in the 90's with the first Not So Scary Halloween Party three (!) days away. Yes, I said three days. As in Monday. Happy Labor Day ya'll, now give me some candy.

With all that being said, let's get down to the real reason we are here. Looking back at last week I see that RW and The Beatles got banned. Let's see if I am right about my Tarkus prediction.

As usual the rules and whatnot are up there ↑ at the top. Time for the kickoff!

Friday and the Random 10 (Outliers edition)

Well we are back for another week of randomness and after last week's literary crapdom (The Catcher in the Rye...ugh), I'm glad to say that the next book I read was much better. So much better in fact that I read it all in one day. It was called Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell and it was a fascinating read (review coming soon). So that has me in a better state of mind for whatever music comes our way today.

Friday and the Random 10

I like that Fridays are my actual Fridays now with my new work schedule. The day actually means something to me now. I mean, other than the Random 10 that is! So let's get the party started!