12 by The Honeydogs

Here's the drill: 12 songs to summarize an artist's career, in chronological order (of course). This one features...

The Honeydogs arose from Minneapolis as part of the alt-country "craze" that swept through the nation in the mid-1990s. In the early 2000s they - like Wilco and the Jayhawks before them - made a successful transformation into an ambitious Beatle-esque chamber-pop band, culminating in the dystopian concept album 10,000 Years. This list covers their first 8 years and 6 albums.

Since songwriter Adam Levy has a gift for one-liners, I'll limit my commentary to a favorite line from the song.

If you have Amazon Music Unlimited, you can listen along here. And keep an eye out for "12 More by the Honeydogs" coming soon!

1) "Those Things Are Hers" (from The Honeydogs, 1995)
"There's the ring, that once held us together / She wants it back, so I'm sending it next week"

2) Your Blue Door (from Everything, I Bet You, 1996)

"Would you lie to me, with the cheapest form of flattery?"

3) "Over You" (from Everything, I Bet You, 1996)

"Give me the strength to walk / out the door and feel the shock / of the cold air / of loneliness"

4) "Kandiyohi" (from Everything, I Bet You, 1996)

"Yeah I hear she's engaged / I didn't mean to ruin your week"

5) "I Miss You" (from Rumor Has It, 1997)

"But we made love for hours / In my head"

6) "Rumor Has It" (from Rumor Has It, 1997)

"The sun and the stars and the planets and the Earth / Were separated from each other at birth"

7) "Sour Grapes" (from Here's Luck, 2001)

"Yeah, it's lonely at the bottom / It takes everything I got to keep from sinking like a stone"

8) "Red Dye #40" (from Here's Luck, 2001)

"You're a third rate first date, it's clear"

9) "Losing Transmissions" (from Here's Luck, 2001)

"We rob Peter, then we sucker-punch Paul"

10) "Rosie Flores Came To Town" (from Island of Misfits, 2002)

"The buses weren't runnin' / but we all got around."

11) "The Rake's Progress" (from 10,000 Years, 2004)

"All I need is a pretty girl / And a pretty big gun"

12) "10,000 Years" (from 10,000 Years, 2004)

"They're melting their toys down for the war effort / All of the kids stand in line to enlist."

Comments

REO Speedwagon: R.E.O. Speedwagon (1971)

REO Speedwagon got its start in the late 1960s on the campus of the University of Illinois in Champaign/Urbana. The band grew out of a friendship between a students Neal Doughty (piano/keyboard) and Alan Gratzer (drums). Joining up with a couple of other musicians, they took the name R.E.O. Speedwagon. It wasn't long before they started getting gigs at parties and bars, doing covers of the hits of the day. The band cycled through several players in its first three years, with Gratzer and Doughty as the only constants. One-by-one they added the members that would form the first "official" lineup: singer Terry Luttrell in early 1968, bassist Gregg Philbin later that summer, and guitarist Gary Richrath at the end of 1970. Richrath was a native of Peoria, 90 miles northwest of Champaign, and had essentially stalked the band until they let him join. It was a good move, as he not only an accomplished guitarist, but also a songwriter. With Richrath the band ascended to the n...

Stuck, or Obsession Cessastion

You may have noticed that things have slowed down around here. I had the summer off from teaching, and I spent it with my 7 month-old son. I gave myself permission to make this blog less of a priority. Well, "less of a priority" is putting it lightly. Initially, I considered an abrupt retirement. But then I reconsidered. Maybe the proximity to Brett Favre is causing this. If you're a long time reader, this is probably not all that surprising to you. Since 2007, it has become an annual ritual for me to soul-search about my waning interest in music. First I blamed an inability to express myself and a lack of quality music . Then in 2008 I cited new technology and the death of the album . Last year I wrote about how my changing life priorities hindered my ability to seek out new music. I've done a lot of thinking about it this summer and in truth I believe this was all just dancing around the issue, a slow realization of something I didn't want to admit to myse...

Billy Joel: Greatest Hits, Volumes I and II (1985)

As you may know, I'm something of a connoisseur of compilations. I have three guidelines that I like my greatest hits to follow, though I am open to these rules being disregarded in certain cases. It's not an exact science. Billy Joel's 1985 Greatest Hits Volumes I and II (an odd title for a set that was never sold separately) is proof of that. It mostly follows the rules. The songs are in chronological order. There are no remixes, just a couple of single edits; there are two live songs, but those were actually were the versions that charted. And there are two new songs - we'll get to them eventually - but both ended up in the Top 40, so in retrospect that was a good decision. My mom bought the double LP when it came out and then dubbed it to a tape that lived in her car for at least three years. It and An Innocent Man were part of the soundtrack of the second half of my first decade of life. So I have a hard time criticizing something so ingrained in my consciousne...

3 Minutes, 49 Seconds

Search This Blog