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The Ultimate playlist podcast full of Choice Trackz. Side A is the weekly theme of the episode and Side B is a full album review.
Damon (00:03.234)
Welcome back to the Ultimate Playlist Podcast full of choice tracks. I'm Damon.
Dee (00:09.239)
I'm Dietrich.
Taj Williams (00:10.632)
I'm Taj, the white, because I've returned. I'm no longer Taj the gray. I'm Taj the white.
Damon (00:18.699)
Okay, yeah, I get that. If nobody understands, he's talking about Laura the Reins. I'm actually going to explain that for you. Yeah, so...
Taj Williams (00:19.523)
Hehehehehe
you
Dee (00:30.04)
Didn't know we were back in Middle Earth, but cool. So thanks for reminding me.
Taj Williams (00:31.682)
You know, it's a great joke if somebody has to explain it, right? That's what I've been told.
Damon (00:32.782)
Apparently, Mordor is just over the hill.
Taj Williams (00:44.499)
No. Okay. Not sure about that. Okay.
Damon (00:45.762)
I don't know. I'm not sure about that.
Yeah, so.
Taj Williams (00:52.93)
So what are we doing here, Damon? I mean, it's been a while. I mean, it's nice to see you. You laugh track me?
Dee (01:01.518)
With the laugh track.
Damon (01:02.86)
Yeah. yeah. So I had, yeah, I had to, give you a little bit of boost on your ego there. somebody thinks you're funny. So, yeah, no, it's been, it's been a good summer. It's been a, literally a hot minute and we're, we're already back at it. So we've been out seeing shows. I went out with Dietrich to at least one show that was pretty good, rocking out.
Dee (01:07.436)
Dee (01:11.896)
Bye.
Dee (01:19.97)
Right?
Damon (01:31.242)
Austin, Texas style, South side. and, the, the venue is come and take it live. So if you're in Austin or if you ever come to Austin, you want to see a good local show in a great venue, come and take it live in South Austin's great. So just, you know, we're not getting paid for any of this, but I do like to mention places that I like, cause they're not all that good. Yeah. Yeah. Right.
Dee (01:51.81)
Nah.
Dee (01:55.192)
But we will mention it to them. Just saying.
Damon (02:02.21)
But yeah, so something I don't know anything about because I don't have any of it. Maybe someday. But yeah, so this is in this episode. if you haven't heard us before or if you have, it's like I said, it's been a minute. So we pick a theme for this episode.
Dee (02:03.903)
My money
Taj Williams (02:05.794)
Yeah
Damon (02:30.498)
We are changing it up a little bit, so I hope you enjoy that ride because not all episodes are going to be the same. But for this episode, it is a theme. We pick a track, our choice track, what we picked as something that best fits that theme. This one is about returning or turning to whatever. it's kind of symbolic for us coming back to choice tracks. So.
Dee (02:58.058)
Sweet home. Feels like we never left, but we did.
Taj Williams (02:59.414)
Right?
Damon (02:59.969)
Exactly.
Taj Williams (03:03.318)
You
Damon (03:04.108)
Yeah, and it's been a nice break. But it's also nice to be back and love hanging with you guys. And I hope you enjoy our choices and our discussion about what we picked. for this episode, returning my first pick, this is an older band. And I like to go back to the 90s. One of my favorite decades.
There's a band called Enigma. And so this band, this album, I guess.
Is 1994. So like, I think I was in high school or just starting high school. My sister was a little older, so she had like this album and, and then, you know, it to final, like everybody likes Enigma for a minute because they were on the radio all the time. And, you know, like, I guess they kind of grew on me. I think I chose this too, because it's such an unusual sound coming out of the nineties. You had like,
just a year before you have like Pearl Jam coming out. Then you have this kind of like new wave or a new age sounding kind of like rock, but not really more, more like, I guess, like a Buddhist sound, like mixed with techno or like club music. They probably did a lot of like, I don't know if there's like a lot of, I guess, songs or artists that like
Taj Williams (04:29.943)
you
Damon (04:42.572)
like did their music or redid their music, but they definitely probably did remixes for the clubs and all that, which I haven't really ventured out to listen to. But I enjoy I enjoy this band a lot. And it's more of a nostalgia thing. But it definitely it made me think of us coming back together and coming back representing like that in a positive way. So very calming, which I need because of traffic.
Always pissing me off in Austin. So, throw out some enigma in the car and yeah, you're good to go. but, yeah. So, the song is, this is returned to innocence.
Taj Williams (05:40.834)
That's not Buddhist. That's not Buddhist. It's Native American for sure. Yeah, like 100 % on that. So yeah.
Damon (05:42.52)
Yeah, can hear the Buddhists. Like, I don't know, I'm trying to picture. What would that be?
Dee (05:51.969)
Yeah.
Damon (05:52.108)
Native American. Okay. What do I know?
All right. Now I, now I want to look that up, but so what's your.
Taj Williams (06:02.625)
It's funny, you mentioned the 90s and bringing back the calmness. You got to remember the 90s is what gave us Yanni.
Damon (06:12.546)
I had that shit too. My sister got me the fucking Yanni CD. I don't know. It was like to get me through rough times, but it just really made it more rough for me trying to figure that shit out. Yeah. And like not knowing how Yanni was perceived by other people and talking about how I had the album, that made it even worse. yeah.
Taj Williams (06:22.434)
You
Dee (06:24.526)
think she did it out of my kick.
Taj Williams (06:40.758)
Yeah, no, I mean, I like the song. It's I know we we shy against this term, but like it's it's kind of like a guilty pleasure song. Like it's a it's a catchy song. It's an earworm. It does get in your head. But yeah, it's I don't know. It's it's the dark side of the 90s that you won't forget about it in a sense. But but.
Damon (07:07.074)
dark side of the 90s.
Taj Williams (07:09.246)
You totally know it's the 90s. You're like, I know this song. So but yeah, but I liked it. I did watch the music video. You could tell, especially from the music video is very much the 90s with trying to do the because everybody loved playing with slow motion and then rewinding stuff and playing it backwards. And that was like totally the music video. It was all about like rewinding time to go back to the age of innocence. So, yeah.
So but that's where it was like is it was interesting because the 90s was kind of that era that was like trying to play on like the 70s were great. And, you know, the 50s were good. 70s were great. And we need to return to that. And we're stuck in the 90s about the 2000s. Yeah.
Dee (07:58.304)
Yeah, I was kind of like, this reminded me of a tribal tattoo. You know, everybody had a tribal tattoo in the 90s and then you get to the 2000s and the late 2000s and all of a sudden tribal tattoos are like a gimmick now. It's bad and it's the clock with the lion around it and all that. So it's like, it was good when it came out.
Taj Williams (08:07.22)
You
Dee (08:27.084)
Nah, so it didn't age so well. But it was still the return to innocence, like Tosh said. And I really do dig that because nowadays you really don't have anything that's innocent anymore. Yep, the girls that know about mass shootings that come out rather than songs that they're inspiring and make you wanna return to a youngster, so to speak.
Damon (08:30.274)
Right.
Taj Williams (08:43.852)
Great.
Dee (08:55.246)
Yeah, it was a good pick for what it was, but it's not one of those 90 songs or videos that kind of age well. It's kind of like, yeah, I remember that time frame. It's like, you remember a bad breakup or something. It's like, it's good memories. It's a good memory. And then you come across that one, one memory that fucks your whole head up. It's like, okay. Yeah. Yep. I remember I'm back to reality.
Taj Williams (09:01.598)
Yeah
Damon (09:12.084)
Hahaha!
Taj Williams (09:23.266)
Right?
Damon (09:24.982)
It's definitely a time. It's a, it's a time warp for me. Yeah. And I, yeah. And I feel like, yeah, I wouldn't be rocking out to enigma, but that's the one song that I'm just like, wow. Okay. It's I can deal with that. It did. It's just reminding me of like either how shitty it was in the nineties or good, but this kind of like, was like uplifting for a minute. And then it goes away, but kind of like how
Dee (09:28.022)
It is a time piece, yes.
Dee (09:47.874)
Yes.
Damon (09:51.854)
Popular that man would have been for a minute. They were kind of, I mean, I think they're still together, but they, I mean, this was number four. Okay. So this is number four in the, the U S the 100 billboard. And that was, yeah. I mean, that's gotta be, you know, that's gotta stand for something, but like that was only when it first came out, I think. And, know, for maybe like a year or two between 94 and 96 and then, you know,
Taj Williams (10:13.014)
Right.
Damon (10:24.888)
I don't know who this is. I don't know much about the producer, but Michael Credo is the producer. And yeah, there you go. So what you got, Taj? What was your idea for this?
Taj Williams (10:34.603)
Okay.
Taj Williams (10:39.17)
So I went to different routes on mine. And so I'm going to start with like the older version of mine. I don't know what I'm trying to do this season. I don't know which lane I'm going to try and be in, know, whether I'm going to be like the hip modern person or like the old folky guy. but we're going to start with a little folky, I guess, for this episode.
And I'm going way old. So my first track is Return to Me by Connie Francis.
Dee (11:19.66)
Yeah buddy, you went home.
Taj Williams (11:35.234)
All right, so I know this is really old school. So this song was actually released in 1960. So the original version. Well, OK, so this song was written by Carmen Lombardo and lyrics by Danny D 'Mino. So probably but through that, sorry. But the first person to sing it and release it is actually D 'Martin. So D 'Martin is the first one.
cover this song. He did it in 1958, so he did it two years before. What's different though is Dee Martin sings it in English first and then sings in Italian. She sings it in Italian first and then sings it in English, which I know that's not a big thing, but it's just, I don't know, it stood out to me. So what this comes off of is an album that her father suggested.
she do, is Connie Francis sings Italian favorites. so, you know, two years, it's already Italian favorite. But the album was actually recorded in 1959. Crazy thing is actually recorded in Abbey Studio or what would be known as Abbey Studio in Britain. And, you know, it was popular enough. It stayed in the charts for like 81 weeks and like actually reached number four.
I just picked it because it's something different, something that not everybody would think to pick. I guess I'm just trying to shine some light on. Yeah, it's a slow song. It's a period of its timepiece, but it's also kind of timeless. It's super romantic, but also kind of reminds you that there was a time period when
being Italian wasn't mainstream. Being Italian wasn't white. Being Italian was being Italian, right? And it's interesting to think that nowadays that somebody might look at this and be like, this is the widest album ever. back in the 60s, people are like, that's not... Anyways, I know that's a weird tangent, but that's kind of one of the things I wanted to go with. It's that like...
Taj Williams (13:58.164)
Music has had this thing where people have wanted to show their culture on it. And that's what this is. This is somebody in the 60s wanting to show their culture. But it's also, I think it's a romantic song. It kind of reminds me of World War II, somebody that forgot their bride. They were over across in Europe.
They got in a fling and then they left them behind in Italy and came back to the States. I don't know, but the song could be other things to other people. So I'm not sure what the original premise of it, but I think it's just a romantic song asking somebody to return to me.
Dee (14:47.018)
All right, first impression. Yeah, I mean, the wall's dirty, bro. We just gotta clean it up. I'm playing. First things first, this reminded me, and don't laugh when I say this, but I know somebody out there is gonna laugh, so y 'all go ahead and go with it. It reminded me of Lady and the Tramp.
Taj Williams (14:50.266)
I threw a lot of stuff there. Did anything stick on the wall?
Dee (15:12.646)
It reminded me of the scene where the dogs are kissing and eating spaghetti and then wind up getting a kiss and then, you know, that type of situation. was like, aw, this is so cute. I surprised that he picked this. And then I got to listening to her voice and listening to the lyrics and going back. And when you said it was a Dean Martin song, it made sense because this was around the recording time.
Taj Williams (15:24.204)
You
Dee (15:38.694)
so it definitely hit in that aspect. was a ballot. that being said though, I really did like her version better than the American version. And maybe it's just because it's the Italian that's drawing you in first before you go into the English version, or maybe it's just the sound of her voice. was a little more smooth, in the situation to me, me personally, outside of that, I thought that this was, you know, a good broad spectrum.
Music between the 90s and that we're going back to the 60s It's like yeah, I'm not mad it doesn't sound like an older time period though Definitely sounds like an older time period but you know for the most part I can't complain with it
Taj Williams (16:17.132)
in the back.
Yes, for sure.
Taj Williams (16:29.196)
Okay.
What do you think, Damon?
Taj Williams (16:37.744)
Are you speechless?
Damon (16:40.268)
Yeah, I, I, I was thinking about Olive Garden bread and, their salad. This is like what you hear when you go to go to take a piss and, know, they got the music playing in the bathroom.
Taj Williams (16:44.982)
man.
Dee (16:53.876)
in the bathroom yeah and the music always gets louder when you're in the bathroom it's crazy
Taj Williams (16:58.198)
You
Damon (16:59.074)
teaching you how to speak Italian. feeling really white at Olive Garden. I don't know. I'm not, yeah, I wasn't sure where the race, the racial part came in. There might be a lot about this artist. don't know, but, about Connie, I mean, she's probably a sweet or was a sweet lady. So I like the sound.
Taj Williams (17:21.28)
Yeah, what as a side note? Yeah, well, as a weird side note, she was also an actress. She was only in seven movies, but three of the first movies she was in, she actually sang what she she was the singing voice for three other actresses in her first three movies. So that's kind of like another one does. It's kind of like a singing in the rain type of thing.
Damon (17:35.788)
Only. It's pretty good.
Damon (17:43.309)
Yeah.
Taj Williams (17:51.422)
She has a good singing voice, but can't be the can't be the face of the movie Right
Damon (17:52.46)
Yeah.
Dee (17:56.527)
That sucks. That just made me really vanilla before that. I that man, that's, that's, that's, I don't know how to take that now. Like I'm saying she's not, she's not beautiful enough to be the lead in that situation. But then again, she was probably going to get some heavy hitters at the top. So it kind of made sense for them to allow her to sing as long as she got an extra check off of that. I'm not sure.
Taj Williams (18:13.687)
Yeah.
Taj Williams (18:19.052)
So, yeah.
Dee (18:21.774)
I'm all about the bag this year, so if you're the bag, cheers to you.
Damon (18:23.522)
Yeah. Right. I can see a lot of her stuff being in like, I don't know, like just like inserted in movies or something back in the day when, you know, when she, well, even after she was popular, I guess, I don't know how popular Connie actually got, but I could see, for sure, like the whole ladies and tramp thing and.
You know, it's like, as far as like this representing, like returning to something like, coming home for dinner, you know, like my Nana, she was from Italy. She'd make big, spaghetti dinners and, you know, Connie probably did that too. So I could, I could, I could see where it feels like you're coming home. Return into something there. So yeah, no, I liked that a little twist on that for sure.
Taj Williams (19:12.064)
Right?
Damon (19:18.476)
So what did you have, Dietrich? What was your first pick for us?
Dee (19:22.51)
So I figured I'd go in between both of y 'all, kick back to the eighties and went with something a little bit off the books. even his description of it was off the book compared to the lyrics, but I'm not even gonna trip on that. So I decided to go with the individual that kind of got a bad rap. He was a good singer. He definitely had his own voice, his own style.
Taj Williams (19:26.281)
You
Damon (19:26.542)
Alright.
Dee (19:51.724)
But it came into a band that was already popular, that already had a popular lead singer who that lead singer left in a solo career. This person stepped in to try to take over and direct the band in his way and just didn't really work out what to pass. So with that being said, this album is actually the album that he released as a solo artist after he left the band. And that name of the album, well, let me just go ahead and start with this.
The artist that I chose, well, I'm not even going to go there first. I'm just going to flip it all up. The reason why I chose the song is because our theme was returning home, right? And nothing screams returning home to me as an individual trying to find himself in the midst of coming back to what he loves. And that's what returning home to me is. Like us returning to the podcast after so many months.
Like this is like home to me. Y 'all are my roommates. And I'm talking about not just y 'all two. I love y 'all two, but I've seen y 'all naked. I don't need to see y 'all naked anymore. I'm talking about the listeners. The listeners, y 'all are our roommates. And we all sit around and talk a few music and see what everything is going on with it. So this was definitely home to me speaking. So not to hold up anything, but I'm talking about 1987's.
Taj Williams (21:02.018)
You
Damon (21:05.514)
Lies. It's all lies.
Dee (21:18.366)
song release of returning home from none other than Sammy Hager aka former lead singer of Van Halen.
Damon (21:39.724)
I know if I like Sammy more than, you know, like the older Van Halen, but David Lee Roth. What do you guys think about that? Like, who's your favorite?
Dee (21:39.745)
Yeah.
Dee (21:46.893)
Yeah.
David.
Damon (21:51.5)
All right, Sam, he's got his own twist on it for sure.
Dee (21:55.316)
Yeah, he did. He did. But he couldn't replace David.
Damon (22:00.568)
Cabo Wabo, made, I think he makes his own tequila. He's a fun guy.
Dee (22:06.956)
Yes, very much so. But he got in a couple of hits while they were still going and everything was good. It just didn't really mesh up work out. he released this album, which is funny as hell. I forgot to say goodbye. I never say goodbye, excuse me. And that was actually part of a promotion in which fans chose the album title for the album. would think that that's like some disc record.
that he put back on Van Halen when him going solo, but no, the fans actually chose that in a promotional gig in order to get the album out. actual album spent 23 weeks on the top 200 chart. It became his highest charting album. It peaked over at number 14. So it actually had a couple of hits on it, but this is one of the songs that stood out. It was released in 1987. It was actually produced by him and
Get this, it was actually produced by him and Eddie Van Halen and David Thorner, who was a well -known engineer and co -producer. But on this particular track, it was mostly Sammy and Eddie that worked together in order to get the song going. And the crazy part about the song is it actually was supposed to be a sequel to a single that he had put out.
What was it? was a silver, silver night. They put it in. Basically what that was was aliens coming down to the planet Earth and taking humans up to their planet. And this was to be the sequel to that returning home where the humans are actually being returned back to the planet Earth.
Taj Williams (23:39.575)
Okay.
Dee (23:57.12)
after being abducted by aliens and how you would feel in the situation, which is where you get that whole area guitar and the whole nine is supposed to be like the alien beaming the humans back down. once they're done poking them and prodding them and hold on, then it's a coming back home knowing that you're not the same as when you were. So that in this whole situation is like, yeah, how did you take that? But the song to me was cool as hell. It was good to hear Sammy, you know,
doing his own jobs and doing it his own way. And, you know, that's one of those things. So what do you all think about Sammy Hagar returning home?
Taj Williams (24:36.95)
liked it. I didn't get the alien vibe, but I kind of got the whole vibe of like, you know, going back to your like hometown and it's not the same. Like it, you can see parts of it, but it's not the same, you know, and that's why I kind of, you know, took it as, you know, that kind of experience of like returning somewhere you've been before that you called home that, but it, you know, it's still kind of home, but it's not quite.
home, you know? But yeah, no, I enjoyed it a lot. I'm gonna be honest, I hadn't heard it before. so but yeah, no, but I enjoyed it. It's a nice, nice lick.
Dee (25:09.25)
Yeah.
Dee (25:15.31)
Gotcha.
Dee (25:22.646)
Okay, Damon, what you think,
Damon (25:25.09)
Yeah, I think like I wanted to know what y 'all thought like compared with the old Van Helen and the new or newer Van Helen. And, you know, not everybody's around anymore, too. So that that changed everything. And, you know, Wolf King kind of picked up where his dad left off. And from what I understand, it was a little bit before Eddie, Eddie, right? Eddie had passed away. So, you know, there's a whole.
I guess, a new beginning. like for the band themselves, like returning home has a whole meaning for them. And I think like everything that Sammy Hagar did had sort of a more uplifting sound. I'm not saying it didn't have that with David Lee Roth, but it was like a different. It was a whole different thing. You know, like the older the older David Lee Roth.
Yeah. Like albums for Van Halen. Like those were all kind of like in the like rock or true to me, real true rock and roll era. Like where that kind of music started coming out and like the big hair was happening and there was just that like muscle car vibe thrown around. Same behavior kind of brings almost like a new beginning. Like it's returning home.
Yeah, this is a great song, I think. I just like that music anyway, so I'm going to gravitate to it. Not that I could say that that's my favorite Van Halen vocalist, but yeah, definitely, definitely could feel that the whole vibe right there. So I like it, I like that a lot. I like I like how you brought that to the table. It's summer still.
Dee (27:14.286)
Yeah.
Damon (27:19.0)
That's a good summer vibe and you can't go wrong with that shit. So yeah, that shit. And it's not shit by the way. That's just me. Yeah.
Dee (27:23.692)
My favorite time of year.
Dee (27:27.97)
Some things never change people. Some things never change.
Taj Williams (27:30.338)
All right.
Taj Williams (27:35.106)
So all right. Yeah.
Dee (27:35.156)
All right, round number two.
Damon (27:35.352)
Well, okay. Yeah. So yeah, my second, my second pick is a little different, not much different. It's a, it's close to the same era, but it's it's a decade before, my first pick. So I went with Motley crew and, so this is, this is going to be, this is kind of like a nostalgia thing, but it's also like a fun, return home.
returned to something after a while. Like, you know, the camaraderie of the band, Motley Crue, I think is like, it's definitely there. You can see, like, I think they had like a special movie out about them not that long ago and showed them like, you know, just like how they became a band. So it's like the members of Nikki Six guitarist and then Tommy Lee is the drummer. Of course, everybody knows Tommy Lee for,
like scandal stuff and videos with Pamela Anderson. But, fucking drum is shit out of some drums. And he also agrees with me politically. So cool. I like you. Vince Neal is the vocalist lead singer and they get Johnny Five on guitar. that's that's. Yeah, those are the members of the band and.
Dee (28:36.768)
And being a hell of a drummer. Let's just leave it there.
Damon (29:02.67)
This is I I kind of picked a lot of stuff, but I think like this, the song in particular off a theater of pain, 1985. So that gives you an idea of like the same time as like Back to the Future, all that stuff came out. So pretty fun time with like, you know, movies and music and all that. I think that. Yeah, this was probably. I think it was more of the styles, think, fun, a fun, a fun idea of like
describe how I feel about coming back to something for, you know, after a while. the lyrics definitely like, you know, they, they, they kind of, I don't know if it's, I don't know if they're all that great. Like some of their stuff is pretty good though. So like the lyrics that lyrics that stood out to me were, you know, you know, I'm a dreamer, but my heart's of gold. And then it goes into a, had to.
run away high so I wouldn't come home low. Well, karaoke session here. I also liked how it's hot, hot tub time sheet, actually had this on in it too. And so Louie or Lou, he was like one of the characters in hot tub time machine. It's all about this song and like, you know, how he w he should have been, you know, the star.
Taj Williams (30:05.591)
You
Damon (30:28.322)
And then I think he like ends up changing time and history that he becomes. Vince Neil or like that character, but yeah, so that was kind of fun.
Taj Williams (30:38.146)
So you haven't played the sample yet. What's the song called?
Dee (30:42.038)
you
Damon (30:42.716)
yeah, I say so. I like to talk a lot, guess, apparently. Yeah. So so it's it's been a lot of summer. I'm still on vacation. I feel like not really. But yeah, in my head, I guess. So the title of the song, this is going to be home sweet home.
Taj Williams (30:47.542)
You're fine?
Taj Williams (31:24.417)
Alright!
Damon (31:25.24)
Vince Neil grinding in there with his voice. He still sounds good. Yeah.
Dee (31:25.826)
Good and healthy.
Taj Williams (31:32.295)
Yeah, no, I so I'd watched it. I had found a music video for this and it was kind of like a montage of them on concert tour and then the tour bus. And, you know, yeah, this song is just magical. mean, like it's you know, it's a it's a road song like it's returning home. It's it's it's the journey. Like sometimes it's not the destination.
Sometimes it's the journey and that's what this song is. This song is about the journey home.
Taj Williams (32:08.758)
Yeah. You're fine. You can sing it.
Dee (32:09.912)
I'm trying not to sing it. I'm really trying not to sing it. I'm trying hard.
Dee (32:19.49)
No, I'm not gonna sing it. I'm not gonna sing it.
Taj Williams (32:19.66)
So now I guess, okay, all right, we trade.
Dee (32:24.536)
Yes, we sure.
Damon (32:24.61)
You need a hot tub and a time machine to go back and sit in and karaoke.
Taj Williams (32:26.562)
Yeah.
Dee (32:28.406)
No, I don't.
I don't want to see where my mom and my dad can see me. Only to find out the person that I hate the most is my dad. No, I'm not gonna go there. No. Not my cup of tea. Sorry. But back to the song, yes.
Taj Williams (32:36.831)
I'm
Damon (32:41.144)
Yeah.
Taj Williams (32:42.709)
you
Dee (32:54.638)
Yeah, this was this is a classic man. If there was ever a classic on this damn list that we didn't put together, this was one of them. surprised it wasn't picked sooner given the situation, but hey, I'm not mad at it. I can't be mad at it. you sing this all damn day and then so it was always two songs that I, I could not stop singing. It was this one, 30 Tom Fray.
and every rose has a thorn by you know different band all together we're going to talk about them but but i think you do yeah but moving forward yeah man this is a hell of a pick and it is a road worry or weary individual and some of times they don't want to go home because you know it takes them away from what they really love to do but at the same time sometimes you just gotta go
Taj Williams (33:31.01)
I know that, Pat.
Dee (33:54.296)
Sometimes you just gotta regroup. Sometimes you just gotta get yourself together. Whether you want to or not, home is where the heart is. If the heart's on the road, hey, you're constantly on the road, but at some point somebody's gonna miss you. You gotta come back. gotta, yourself. And this is, this is one of those all -time favorite songs, man. I'm glad you picked it, cause yeah. Even when we get off of the podcast, I'm still gonna be singing that shit. Just gonna take you out right there.
Damon (34:24.992)
And I really did like the lyrics that I went over, like the dreamer being a dreamer, heart of gold. It kind of made me think of like when I was younger, you know, like I had a different outlook on stuff. So going back to stuff was different back then. You know, it was like everything was new to me up to a certain age, you know. But that's where I that's where I kind of like fit this into the, you know, the theme for this episode.
Yeah, and really like, surprisingly enough, when it first came out, it was number 89. So an 80 between 85 and 86, it was number 89 on the top 100 US charts. But then it moved to 91. People had a chance to, I guess, see an internet karaoke or whatever. And it went all the way to 37. So yeah, it got it got more popular. Yeah.
Dee (35:14.784)
It was the video. It was a B -side track. It was on there as a ballad on album. And then it got released and then the video actually came out for it. Which was basically a montage of them on the road and doing different shows and such. Showing tired after the fact or sloshing around in the whole situation. So yeah, that actually helped out and pushed it up a little bit higher.
Damon (35:42.488)
New good old MTV.
Dee (35:44.396)
Yeah, I want my MTV. That's back when MTV was relevant for music.
Taj Williams (35:44.45)
All right.
Damon (35:49.036)
That's what you got Taj. Yeah. Yeah, I know.
Taj Williams (35:52.363)
Right?
All right, so my pick is one that, well, so I don't know. When I started researching it, this was the first one I came across. And I was like, I kind of had to grab this. I was the first to put in my picks and grab this one. I just really like the song.
But I'll get into it. So this is a song that released in October of 1977. It's Kansas, Point of Known, with a K, Return.
Taj Williams (36:47.328)
Yeah, I know it totally rush vibes, you know, but like, don't know. So I had to look it up because I was curious because it's point of known return. So I was like, well, why didn't they just say no return? So known returned and no return are both the same thing. It's because the point of known return is like you get to the point where you know you can return back. Right. So but then
thinking on it, it just, there's a difference in, you know, it's a subtle change, but it's like, you haven't crossed the line yet, right? You know, you can keep, you know, you can return once you get to the point of no return, you know, that you pass that point that you can't return there. So, but it's, it's a weird thing that they both mean the exact same thing that they, and they're homophones, but yeah, I just thought it was interesting that they chose to do no return. So.
so this, song reached, 28 in the U S, Billboard 100. so it was written by, Steve Walsh, Robbie Schmidt and, no Robbie Steinhardt and, Phil Earhart. so the drummer who's, was actually one of the writers. So he's like, he's one of the few people to have written. It's one of the few songs he wrote for, with the band.
And so Phil and Rich are both the still the only two members on Kansas right now. And so, or no, Phil and Rich are the only two members to be on every album of Kansas that they've released. they they've had other band members. And so the other thing was Kansas was originally named that because two of the members were from Kansas, but originally the band had the name of White Clover.
before they renamed themselves in 1969. So, which is interesting. So 10 years before this song that they've renamed themselves. So, yeah.
Taj Williams (38:55.65)
but that was my pick and I really like it, but yeah.
Damon (39:01.164)
Yeah, there's a lot of keyboard going on. Like I think that like the keyboard's almost like two. Is it a keytar? It could be a keytar. could see that. Like that was like a really fun thing to do. I mean, Kansas is great. Like this is, this is the album that has like dust in the wind, which is one of my favorite, you know, melancholy songs. Yeah. But yeah, this is a good, this is a good like a montage type of a song with a bunch of.
Taj Williams (39:04.839)
Or a keytar. Is it a keyboard or a keytar?
Dee (39:09.218)
Right.
Damon (39:30.754)
Bud's getting back together like this would be our montage for sure.
Taj Williams (39:35.176)
I don't know. My mind scape kind of goes to like the Mutiny on the Bounty. Like this is the sailor going to Captain Blythe like, can we go home? Captain Blythe is like, no, we're going to keep going. You know, this sailor is like, but we're going to reach a point where we can't return. Blythe is like, I don't care. Keep going. So.
Damon (39:37.387)
Hahaha
Damon (39:51.554)
haha
Damon (39:56.747)
Alright.
Taj Williams (40:05.836)
There's some mutiny on the bounty jokes for you guys there. D -Trick.
Dee (40:14.964)
I got nothing to say.
Taj Williams (40:19.874)
Just that. Gotcha. All right. Well, what did you think of Kansas in the song?
Dee (40:22.562)
That part.
Dee (40:28.248)
Just that, just that part.
Dee (40:37.727)
So, like I did get the Rush vibes. What I will say, was a little bit more psychedelic for me than I was expecting.
Taj Williams (40:49.623)
really? Okay.
Dee (40:53.362)
I don't know why it was like that. It's just, whatever reason, whenever I, I listened to it, like, like five times in a row, just so I a good vibe on it. And each time I listened to it, I heard something that was kind of wonky and it just kind of threw me off. So for the most part, I'm not going to say I hate it because I don't. I actually, I like the groove. I like the vibe of it.
Taj Williams (41:06.464)
Okay.
Dee (41:21.92)
I just can't get into the instrumentation changes. Sound wise for me, it's like all over the place. It's one of those, it's like if I were in the room with them when they were playing it, I swear to God they would have stole it from the Beatles. Just this track wise alone, but for the most part I get it.
Taj Williams (41:25.695)
gotcha.
Taj Williams (41:42.102)
you
Dee (41:47.776)
It's got a little bit of rush, a little bit of doors, a little bit of Beatles. Just that whole psychedelic vibe is like all wrapped up into one.
Taj Williams (41:56.064)
Makes sense, yeah. Okay.
I get you. Well, thanks.
Dee (42:03.682)
No problem, anytime.
Taj Williams (42:05.246)
Any time, OK. But all right. So Dietrich, did you have a last and final pick for us? you didn't. OK, well, I'm just kidding.
Dee (42:13.098)
No, I did not. I'm just gonna wing it. So I did pick somebody, which is funny because out of all the songs that he has, this is one song where he's not really talking on it. It's more just to feature artists, which is crazy. But it's from Kanye West, during Common, and the name of the song is My Way Home.
Dee (42:43.278)
released in 2005.
Dee (42:57.934)
Yes, sir. Kind of went back on that one because that's late registration 2005 album. That was the second album release after, you 'Connor's drop out. And this one was critically acclaimed because it's had all the hits on it. This had diamonds from Sierra Leone. This had Gold Digger. This had heard him say, Touch the Sky, Drive Slow. Like all of the quintessential Kanye songs were on this album, so to speak, right?
Taj Williams (43:25.376)
Okay.
Dee (43:27.574)
With that being said, this was the seventh cut on that album. And it wasn't even supposed to be on this album. It was supposed to be on Common's album, which his album was called B. But Common decided to scrap it because it didn't flow with the rest of the vibe that he had on the album. So he literally just scrapped it. And Kanye said, you're not going to waste my sample. The sample he actually took from Gil Scott Heron.
And so with that situation being, he was like, you know what, I'm just going to put it on my album. So he wound up placing it on his and it actually filled in the gap and did what it was supposed to do. It was not a release single, even though the album went to number one. But it's just one of those that kind of fit his vibe more than what it did over there. And the sample actually came from Homeless, where the Hatred is.
So they took that song, flipped that up. That song by itself, if you go and listen to that by Gil Skier on Home is Where the Hatred is, that is a beautiful song. It's one that hurts, it touches the heart. It is a heart string puller, because it's like, how do you have hate at home? But he describes it in such a picture of it. If you go back, it'll put you in a mode for sure. But shout out to him. But he was actually a co -producer and writer on this particular album, as well as
Taj Williams (44:21.74)
man.
Dee (44:51.622)
Kanye and Common were also co -writers in the situation. So they all came together and Common just delivered like a flawless verse on this situation. And, you know, for what all intents and purposes, whatever one man's trash is another man's treasure. But in this situation, was my way home and it's basically Common describing, you know, the halls and the highways, the byways of Chicago and how you got to move there. and, you know, it was, was definitely a beautiful silhouette within itself.
So, y not gonna say much about Yeh, whatever he wants to call himself now. But I will say that this back in the day was prime time like Kanye for me. So what do y 'all think about my way home, Kanye featuring common.
Taj Williams (45:38.178)
I really liked it. I was surprised. Well, I don't know why I was surprised. I I really liked it. It was short. And so and I'll be honest, I had I know all the songs you're talking about, but I never listened to the album before. And I thought maybe that this was like an intrude and they are fed into the next song. So I actually looked up the album, listened to this and then the next song hit and it wasn't like a
Dee (45:54.762)
Mm
Taj Williams (46:07.668)
It didn't blend in. So I was like, was like, did he just pick an intrude? But it's a gem of an intrude. It just I don't know. It's a gem of a short song. And don't get me wrong. I like there are some short songs I really love that. But this is one does you're like, man, it. This is a good appetizer. I want a meal of it's like I want more like why is this so short? Like.
Dee (46:09.698)
Right.
Dee (46:14.2)
Thank you.
Dee (46:23.34)
Yeah.
Taj Williams (46:36.962)
And maybe I got to go listen to the original and I'll get what I want. But yeah, the sample, yeah, perfect sample. then, the spitting on top of it. You're like, yeah, it's like, yeah, this is a great bit. And like, it does get to the point. But you're like, I want more. OK. you're
Damon (47:00.14)
Yeah, I agree. I mean, I like the sample better maybe than the song. I feel like Kanye West, like I definitely don't gravitate towards his music. I mean, he's a different person for sure. But like, I feel like this was done well with the sample. So I like how Dietrich kind of went into the history of that too. So now I want to learn more about, you know, the artists that were sampled here.
Dee (47:00.77)
Amy, what's your thought,
Damon (47:29.082)
but, it definitely gave me a feeling of like, you know, returning to something, you know, and, togetherness and I guess like family or, know, like friends or family, that kind of thing. And I think that's probably where they're going with it too, but, yeah, I know. I mean, kudos to Kanye West for like picking a really good sample and he probably does respect a lot of really good music. I just can't always get on board with his stuff, but it's.
Taj Williams (47:57.232)
that makes sense. Yeah. And plus, I feel like the two songs go together in a sense because I feel like, yeah, because I feel like the first one is about returning home and, you know, it's a little bit more. Yeah, things change where it's more happy. This is more the flip side where it's like you're returning home and like it's a little bit more tentative. This one.
Damon (47:59.341)
Yes.
Damon (48:05.379)
Yeah.
absolutely.
Taj Williams (48:27.276)
has a little bit more like, if you and maybe I'm remiss remembering, but like this one has a little bit more like, you know, you made it big, but it's like things things aren't the same because you're different. You know, people want more from you. But yeah, but I liked it either way. So yeah.
Damon (48:48.546)
Like just even if you're not listening to the lyrics, it almost like the music like and like I said, like I really liked I think I liked, you know, the track that he that he mixed in better than a lot of the stuff I hear from Kanye. But like I think that it gives you the feeling of like, OK, now everything's better again for a moment. Like I've been away doing whatever the hell I'm doing. But now that I'm back home, like this is returning to my roots, this is returning to like, you know, who I
who I think I should be. You know, because you lose yourself in a lot of stuff.
Dee (49:21.323)
Mm -hmm.
Dee (49:25.248)
Yeah, you get a little bit of the recharge and then you also get a little bit of a reminder of why you left all within a mode. It's like, okay.
Damon (49:32.503)
Yeah.
Damon (49:37.07)
Exactly.
Taj Williams (49:37.1)
Yeah, we will. Plus, it also feels like you get a little bit of that, you know, you've been eating steak for like two weeks and now you go home and you're like, man, I remember when all we had was like a can of pork and beans and cold hot dogs for for dinner. You know, like it's it's part of that vibe. Like you're returning home and you're like, shit, I got to remember how tough I used to have it before.
Dee (49:59.118)
First of all, beanie wings was never served cold.
That was one of my favorite meals coming up, which I know it sounds crazy, but yeah, whenever my mom had beanies, I would rush home. Seriously. She would tell me what she was going to make before I left the house, to play. Yes, I actually played outside. It was crazy. But, you know, that's, how old I am. But whatever she would tell me that, you know, I'm making beanies or I would just come home and see the surprise. It's like, did I get a good grade on the test? What?
Damon (50:06.339)
Yeah.
Taj Williams (50:08.189)
you
Taj Williams (50:14.422)
Yeah.
Damon (50:15.608)
Hahaha
Taj Williams (50:22.676)
you
Dee (50:34.798)
What is worth this prize? And because she always doctored it up and put in barbecue sauce and all kind of stuff. for the most part, yeah, she made a meal a meal. She would make anything a meal and even scraps would get out of a meal. So I feel you when you said that, but it was never served cold. Never, not at all. Never, ever. Get it right. okay.
Taj Williams (50:35.23)
you
Damon (50:42.286)
Hell yeah.
Taj Williams (50:53.502)
Right. got you.
Damon (50:59.778)
simplistic food. Like when you're a kid, like everything's awesome. And I remember like just like getting some McDonald's french fries or something like that would be great. But like, it's really truly awesome when like your mom or whoever is making like that dish. And what'd you call it? Meany weenies or something or? It's like. It's a hot dog, man.
Dee (51:05.109)
everything.
Dee (51:08.941)
Yep.
Dee (51:19.544)
Beanie weenies. It's beans hot dog cut up or hot dog wieners cut up in it. it was, it was the bomb. It was such the bomb back in the days. We had all of the little meals that you would see on the TV, on the commercials. Like we had manwich. I was like, man, this is serious. And then we had like breakfast for dinner and I thought that was the best thing in the world because I'm just a breakfast person. So I get to eat tacos and.
Damon (51:27.695)
yeah?
Damon (51:38.646)
Yeah.
Dee (51:48.97)
and sausage, egg and cheese mixed all in together and then pancakes and everything. I was like, man, it was the best. Nevermind the fact that my parents were actually struggling at the time. It was just a punked up, we got breakfast or dinner. That was like, yes. It's like, you know, one of those surprise things. Goulash, you know, chicken and dumplings, I hated. were certain things that I didn't touch and she would make me sit at the table. So like one, two o 'clock in the morning until I actually ate some of it. Yeah, yeah, it was.
Taj Williams (52:00.693)
you
Right?
Damon (52:16.285)
damn.
Dee (52:18.574)
It was the hard times growing up, but it was the best time for me because it made me appreciate everything more. Like, yeah, I can go to a and spend 500 bucks on a steak dinner and the whole nine, but I don't have to. can come home and make some big and winies and get the whole thing. It was fun as hell is exactly for everything that I have experienced, whether it be exquisite meals or, or restart Michelin chef dinners and the whole nine.
Damon (52:25.175)
Right.
Damon (52:35.342)
For $5.
Dee (52:47.426)
Like my favorite meal is still my mom's fried chicken with fettuccine Alfredo and sweet peas. That's like exactly what.
Damon (52:55.928)
Well, that sounds pretty good. I mean, main reason, you know, you to kind of like be in the right mindset, but like that second one sounds pretty good.
Taj Williams (52:57.632)
Yeah, that's good.
Dee (53:02.766)
Right, right. But the other one, the other one is like home cooking at its best. When it's done with love, it's best. And it's like, no, nothing can top it to me. I don't care about any kind of steak. I don't care about any kind of seafood, anything else of this nature. If my mom actually cooks that meal, I'll take that 10 times out of 10. So, yeah, I get the home part and being there and having the good with the bad and the whole nine and
Taj Williams (53:03.01)
You
Dee (53:32.206)
You know, some things you just need that reminder to kind of keep you humble then.
Taj Williams (53:36.834)
for sure.
Damon (53:37.774)
So it's about, man, yeah, that's a good return story for sure. I think I had like mac and cheese, my mom ate good mac and cheese.
Dee (53:42.392)
Yes, sir.
Taj Williams (53:43.436)
Yes, sir.
Dee (53:46.99)
man, I'll get me started on the mac and cheese. There's been fights in my family over mac and cheese. Literally.
Taj Williams (53:56.62)
Huh?
Damon (53:56.866)
Well, now that we've returned and we're all fucking hungry as shit now.
Taj Williams (53:59.744)
Now, so now is the part where we hand out homework, right?
Dee (54:00.821)
What do we do now?
Damon (54:07.244)
I don't know homework. I don't like homework. but if we have to, if we have to call it something like, what is our next, journey? Like what, what are we going to be talking about? think we have a genre that we're going to go over. Did you have something in mind Taj?
Taj Williams (54:09.835)
What?
Dee (54:11.926)
Are we really in school?
Taj Williams (54:22.518)
Yep. Yeah, I do. So, So like we alluded to, we're changing it up. We kind of have in our mind, we have four different types of episodes. And so, yeah, our next one's going to be our genre theme where so you know how being an old Biddly Stix, an old fuddy duddy, we're going old school and
Damon (54:41.506)
What's that?
Taj Williams (54:52.566)
We're going ragtime.
Damon (54:55.798)
Okay.
Taj Williams (54:57.088)
So it'll be maybe a shorter episode. yeah, we're just doing, know, we're going to talk about ragtime and we're going to pick our favorite ragtime track. So.
Damon (55:08.622)
I look forward to that.
Taj Williams (55:09.952)
Yeah, so for sure.
OK. Well, but yeah, and I think this has been a good episode. I feel like we're back in the saddle. We returned.
Damon (55:22.85)
Well, it's good to see you all's faces again. I did see Dietrich, but yeah, Taj is the digital version of Taj, but it's still just as good. Yeah. So do you have anything else for our listeners Taj?
Taj Williams (55:25.886)
Earth, right?
Taj Williams (55:31.136)
you
Taj Williams (55:38.292)
we ask that you please subscribe and listen to all past and future episodes. And you can find this on torystrax .com or email us at torystrax .gmail .com. Both of those end with a Z. And so let's go and sign out. I've been Taj.
Damon (55:56.428)
I'm Damon still, I almost forgot my name, but yeah.
Dee (56:00.879)
I'm about to make a name for myself here. We're gonna pick up the needle but y 'all keep spinning those choice tracks. Welcome back everybody. We back bitches. Yeah.
Taj Williams (56:03.703)
You
Damon (56:04.28)
Ha ha ha ha.
Taj Williams (56:15.308)
you
Damon (56:17.549)
Yeah.
Dee (56:57.784)
Nice.
Taj Williams (56:58.838)
Yep.