I am a child of the seventies (and eighties too I guess). So I appreciate a lot of the music that was created back then. Like many people I am partial to the music I heard when I was younger and more impressionable. I would argue, not completely tongue in cheek, that music was more soulful back in the day. Of course I suppose 20 years from now people will be talking about how they just don't make singers of Justin Bieber's status any more. Anyway during the past week, I heard these two songs over the cafeteria radio during my lunch break. They brought back good memories. Well mostly. The Lee Michaels song "Do you know what I mean" briefly reminded me of someone who is better forgotten but I guess we all have people like that in our past, don't we? The Wet Willie song "Keep on Smilin'" is a fun optimistic tune. No matter what is going on in our life it is probably better to find something positive on which to focus. That doesn't mean that you have to be a Panglossian idiot who mindlessly repeats that this is the best of all possible worlds but it does mean that wallowing in negativity rarely helps matters. Both musical groups were probably one-hit wonders (definitely so in Lee Michaels' case, somewhat less so in Wet Willie's case). Sometimes you just catch magic I guess. Anyway I like both of these songs a lot.
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Saturday, January 23, 2016
Music Reviews: Wet Willie, Lee Michaels
Keep on Smiling, Do you Know what I mean
I am a child of the seventies (and eighties too I guess). So I appreciate a lot of the music that was created back then. Like many people I am partial to the music I heard when I was younger and more impressionable. I would argue, not completely tongue in cheek, that music was more soulful back in the day. Of course I suppose 20 years from now people will be talking about how they just don't make singers of Justin Bieber's status any more. Anyway during the past week, I heard these two songs over the cafeteria radio during my lunch break. They brought back good memories. Well mostly. The Lee Michaels song "Do you know what I mean" briefly reminded me of someone who is better forgotten but I guess we all have people like that in our past, don't we? The Wet Willie song "Keep on Smilin'" is a fun optimistic tune. No matter what is going on in our life it is probably better to find something positive on which to focus. That doesn't mean that you have to be a Panglossian idiot who mindlessly repeats that this is the best of all possible worlds but it does mean that wallowing in negativity rarely helps matters. Both musical groups were probably one-hit wonders (definitely so in Lee Michaels' case, somewhat less so in Wet Willie's case). Sometimes you just catch magic I guess. Anyway I like both of these songs a lot.
I am a child of the seventies (and eighties too I guess). So I appreciate a lot of the music that was created back then. Like many people I am partial to the music I heard when I was younger and more impressionable. I would argue, not completely tongue in cheek, that music was more soulful back in the day. Of course I suppose 20 years from now people will be talking about how they just don't make singers of Justin Bieber's status any more. Anyway during the past week, I heard these two songs over the cafeteria radio during my lunch break. They brought back good memories. Well mostly. The Lee Michaels song "Do you know what I mean" briefly reminded me of someone who is better forgotten but I guess we all have people like that in our past, don't we? The Wet Willie song "Keep on Smilin'" is a fun optimistic tune. No matter what is going on in our life it is probably better to find something positive on which to focus. That doesn't mean that you have to be a Panglossian idiot who mindlessly repeats that this is the best of all possible worlds but it does mean that wallowing in negativity rarely helps matters. Both musical groups were probably one-hit wonders (definitely so in Lee Michaels' case, somewhat less so in Wet Willie's case). Sometimes you just catch magic I guess. Anyway I like both of these songs a lot.
