Smokey Robinson and the Miracles

Smokey Robinson, "Tears Of A Clown" (YSI link)

Smokey Robinson, "Tracks of My Tears" (YSI link)

Smokey Robinson, "My Girl Has Gone" (YSI link)

What better way to start a week than with a few of the greatest songs ever done? Well, one better way would be to start a week listening to songs about love and happiness and realize how much they mirror one's own life. But, sadly, I'm not there. And let's be honest, the great shit's always about being sad or unrequited love or both. Ugh, is it so much to ask for a nice cute girl with bangs with low standards? Dear G-d, it's me Jack.

Mang, if you're going to be listening to sad songs, could you pick any better songs? I feel like everyone knows these songs by Smokey Robinson and the Miracles, but maybe not. It's funny, as all of the music I listen to is my own. In other words, I had to come to it on my own. I didn't have any older brother or sister telling me about The Birthday Party or Cybotron, putting me onto that cool shit. My parents weren't really music people. The one exception is that whole period of music tragically labelled "oldies". It was the soundtrack for all car rides and it's had a huge impact on what I love. Roy Orbinson, the Beach Boys, Motown, the girl groups, Elvis, early Beatles were daily sounds, giving me a lifelong love for the pop music of that time.

I especially love the fact that this music that sounds so beautiful (listen to Robinson's voice) can be so dark. These are sad songs, songs about broken hearts, about lost love, about a dude singing how he cries when no one's looking. That's gangster, motherfuckers. I'm gonna try to dip into this music more and more as we go along, as I think that it's such essential stuff and I'm not really sure that today's music does as good a job writing music to reflect sadness.

-You know what really makes me sad? The fact that The Hills is over. What am I supposed to do with my life? How can I wait a year to learn about how Spencer screws Heidi over? How can I wait to know how Lauren and Audrina's roomate situation blows up? And most importantly, how can I wait all that time to see my darling Whitney?

-I just wanted to mention a few lame blog-related stuff. I'm not sure if I've made this clear, but I won't be approving any anonymous comments, especially if they are critical. All I ask is that you leave your initials if you don't want to create a profile. I'm going to be erasing the blogroll shortly and rebuild over the coming months.