We interrupt the Pandemic Holiday Song theme for our sixth annual listing of the most viewed posts of the prior year.
Through our (usually) two-week long themes, our international
roster of writers address many different kinds of music, and bring
different perspectives to their pieces. This year, not surprisingly,
many of our themes were directly or indirectly related to the global
pandemic and its effects. In our top 11 (due to a tie), we have an
instrumental piece from two guitar masters, a memorial for a respected
musician, a reflection on eye surgery and Jackson Browne, a Blues
Brothers cover, a discussion of a somewhat obscure British musician, a
funky instrumental, an early synth-rock song, an intense R.E.M. mystery,
a Led Zeppelin deep-ish track featuring a Brit-folk legend, a
remembrance of three great New Orleans musicians, and a soul classic.
One thing that I've noticed from compiling this list for the past few years is how it is impossible to predict what posts will strike a nerve with our readers and appear on the list. Some of my favorite contributions didn't come close to making the cut, and the popularity of the artist or song written about seems to have little correlation to popularity on this site. For example, the top post this year is about a pretty obscure 1980s proggy instrumental, number 2 is an In Memoriam piece about a well-respected musician who is not a household name, and the third is about an old Jackson Browne song that remarkably was also in one of last year's top 10 posts (although the fact that I included a pathetic post-surgery picture of myself might have encouraged people to read it):
1. Masks--I Advance Masked
2. In Memoriam--Neal Casal
3. No Thanks--Doctor My Eyes
4. Non-Sense--Rubber Biscuit
5. Hidden Places--Driving Somewhere
6. Rocket/Space--Outa-Space
7. Electricity--Are 'Friends' Electric?
8. Musical Mysteries--What's The Frequency, Kenneth?
9. War/Peace--The Battle of Evermore
10. In Memoriam--Three New Orleans Icons
10. Alone--Tired of Being Alone
Because so many of the most viewed posts are from early in the year, which makes sense, since they were available to view on the site for the longest, below are the top posts for each of our themes not represented in the total top 10:
Something With Twenty--Twenty Years Ago
Valentines--Cupid Come/My Bloody Valentine
Superstitions--Ubangi Stomp
Mayday/Danger--Help Me
Open/Close--A Selection of Great Albums that Start as Well as they Finish
Looking Forward--I'll Follow The Sun
Wait/Don't Wait--Desperados Waiting For A Train
Great--Not Great Men
Count/Counting--SCTV's Count Floyd
Mail--Take A Letter Maria
Lessons (3 way tie)--Musings of a Teacher, No Teacher No Method No Guru, Lessons in Love
Empty--Empty Baseball Park
Guitar Heroes--Robert "One Man" Johnson
Joe--Smokey Joe's Cave
Leftovers--(Lessons) Clarence White
Pandemic Holiday Songs--Why You've Been Gone So Long
Thanks so much for reading our work this year. If you are interested in joining our staff, contact information can be found at the top right of the blog.
On a personal note, I'm now appearing on the blog under my real name, not as "J. David," an alias I used for various reasons when I started writing here back in late 2011. A new year seemed like a good time for a change.
And we promise more great music and writing in 2021, including our annual In Memoriam theme, coming soon!!
