Vince's Journey

Yesterday I made my picks for the NFL Playoffs and wouldn't you know it; all 4 of them got beat! Phoenix, Baltimore and Minnesota were completely thrashed while New York benefited for a second straight week from an opposing kicker with a severe case of the yips as All Pro Kicker, Nate Kaeding, 'down staged' Cincinnati's Shayne Graham by missing 3 field goals in the Jets 17-14 playoff win. So now there are 4 teams moving on that, quite frankly, I don't particularly like so I'm going to have to figure out who the lesser of 4 evils is and go with them. After about a second of consideration, I'm thinking I just may be a New Orleans Saints fan for the rest of the season.

I'm watching the Golden Globes while making chicken and dumplings soup so I'll keep things short tonight and get right to the next 10 songs in my countdown....

#50. Living For the City - Stevie Wonder. In the 70's, Stevie Wonder put out hit after hit, won numerous Grammy Awards for Best Album and many of his songs focused on societal issues that Stevie felt needed to be brought to the forefront and was willing to provide the platform . None of his songs were as powerful as this epic about a young, black man trying to rise above the poverty of his small-town, Mississippi home.

#49. Little Red Corvette - Prince. Prince had had commercial success from his previous LP, 'Controversy', but '1999' made him a mega star. A double LP filled with an array of songs demonstrating Prince's tremendously diverse range, 'Little Red Corvette' was the crown jewel on the album and the extended version of the song is one of the 'hottest' tunes of the '80's.

#48. Levon - Elton John. One of the early hits of his career, I saw Elton in concert a few years ago and he absolutely nailed this song - it was better than the recording. My son, Judd, is a huge fan of Elton and his infatuation served as a way to reintroduce me to his songs, many that I hadn't listened to since the mid-1970's.

#47. Return to Pooh Corner - Kenny Loggins. In the 70's, Kenny Loggins and Jim Messina, had a modest hit with the song, 'House on Pooh Corner'. In the early 90's Kenny re-recorded the song under a new title, 'Return to Pooh Corner'. Basically he added a final verse about his own son who had helped him return to those long gone days of his childhood. This is a father/son song similar to how 'Field of Dreams' was a father/son movie. With two sons of my own who are now in college, I hope to have a few more opportunities to tuck my sleeping boys into bed and get a wink from the taggered, old bear.

#46. You Don't Know Me - Ray Charles and Diana Krall. This standard is one of the all time greats and the duet of Ray and Diana is my favorite version of the song. It allows me to get a second Ray Charles song on the list as well as a cut featuring Diana Krall, who has one of the classic female voices in music today.

#45. My Girl - The Temptations - The 3rd and final song from The Temptations on the list, this is a classic Motown song which leaves little doubt how much the singer loves 'his girl'.

#44. Hotel California - The Eagles. This title cut is the second of two Eagles song to make the list and they're the first two songs from the 'Hotel California' LP. Another commentary on the materialistic culture of mid-70's LA with a great guitar solo as the song fades to 'New Kid in Town'.

#43. Billie Jean - Michael Jackson. Obviously we all know the sad ending of Michael Jackson's story - you could almost trace the beginning of his down fall back to this song because in my mind the King of Pop was never greater than he was on 'Billie Jean'; the Mt. Everest of his career. He was the hottest, hippest, coolest guy in music and he could do no wrong. I think the closest he ever came to duplicating the enormity of 'Thriller' and 'Billie Jean' was 'Man in the Mirror' but at that time his bizarre behavior was well into full bloom and the appeal just wasn't the same. When I think of Michael Jackson I choose to visualize the image him dancing down that sidewalk, lighting it up every step of the way while proclaiming - the kid is not my son.

#42. Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me - Elton John. Another song nailed by Elton in concert - just brilliant.

#41. A Day In The Life - The Beatles. 'Sgt. Pepper' was a ground breaking LP which changed the way albums would be made from that point on. Every song was tremendously inventive and the album culminated with the incredible, 'A Day In The Life', with John and Paul sharing the spotlight on what could almost be two separate songs about the mind-numbing activities of every day life.

That's it for now - Robert Downey Jr. just won the Golden Globe for Best Actor in a Comedy which tells me it was a bad year for actors in comedies. I'll continue the countdown tomorrow night!