What My Facebook Friends Are Listening To During The Pandemic

To think about music is to be inquisitive and we are  always interested in what other people are listening in a mix of nosiness and new finds. With that in mind, I asked my Facebook friends what they were listening to and my friends replied! Out of respect for their privacy, I am only using their first name and first initial of their last names (I said I’d only use the first name, but it was too confusing)  What do I think we will learn from this exercise? What you listen to is a litmus taste as to who precisely you are, it tells us people listen to a lotta stuff… John Prine because he just died, REM and the Beatles because they’re comfort food, songs that speak directly to the moment like “Life During Wartime” and personal faves galore. Me? When I’m not listening to the latest releases, a live John Prine I taped in 2018 at Radio City,  and Spotify’s “US Top 50”.

Alyson C – Joy Division (but not Closer). Also ‘End of My Rope’ by Pokey Lafarge

April S –  Collapse,  Sober Truth

Arba M –  90% Peter Murphy albums: the perfect soundtrack for these times………

Brad B –  The sound of sexy soul by The Delfonics and The Neon Skyline by Andy Shauf

Caeser P – The Unraveling – Drive By Truckers

Cassidy L – I just heard Made In Heights “Murakami” and I’m obsessed

Connie S – Sonic Rendezvous Band, Keep On Hustling

Christi S-  I’ve mainly had 2 songs, ‘Back In The USSR’ by The Beatles and ‘Desire’ sung by Michael Aston of Gene Loves Jezebel. The 1st because of Trump and politics. The 2nd because all of us, globally, simultaneously, are having a strong desire for the way things were and the simplicity of accessing essentials pre-quarantine. I just inevitably had these songs running through my mind a lot recently. If I’m going with two please include American Pie and Desire sung by Michael Aston (Gene Loves Jezebel) because it’s more true.

Kevin J – Love this tune and have had it on repeat for the past couple of weeks

Craig H –  Enjoy the Silence….Depeche Mode

Cynthia H – B52s, the collection

Dan E – Stevie Wonder – Talking Book

Danielle ZS –  We’ve been watching Trolls on repeat. I have JT “can’t stop the feeling” stuck. Ah, life with a 3 year old

Dave DA – That new Shinobi!

David AJ –  John Prine’s Storm Windows, lately…

Diane FC –  Sound of Silence by Mythology

Didi C – “ Get Together” by The Youngbloods

Edward H – “The Wall of Death”, Richard and Linda Thompson

Ellie L – I’ve been loving the new Robert Conn music !

Ellyn S – Todd Rundgren a wizard a true star

Feriel L – I will never get out of this world alive hank wiliams

Fred H –  I may be an anomaly. I use “down” time (usually commutes!) to listen to neglected music in my collection. I listened to all of the early Steve Miller albums in week one. This week, I listened to the 1st 4 Spirit albums. I’ve got so much music, what I’ve been trying to do is listen as though I don’t have that much. So, I put “Brave New World” (SM) in for a few days. I’m on day 2 of Spirit

Frank Li –  The Kinks Village Green Preservation Society and Preservation acts one and two

Jane C. Patterson I’m all over the place… much like my mood. Let It Be, lots of live Phish, Dead, Umphrees… John Prine and in my head while I run… Petty

Heather H –  Gonzalez  is long broken up, but I sure like this cover of the old Tucky Buzzard classic with the apropos lyrics

Heather OF –  If it ends in Marley, its playing

Irene D – I’m reading the last days of John Lennon

James N –  I’ve been listening to a lot of albums by year of release the last few months, catching up on stuff I missed, and reevaluating ala Christgau (so it’s not just play, it’s work too in a sense) even some of the albums I know in the peripheral. I’ve been doing 1978 this week, and the one album I’ve gotten into is XTC’s Go 2. I’d never really listened to it before, and vaguely recall hearing only two of its songs on the radio back when it came out. I’d been disappointed with their debut, White Music, because they were new to the recording studio, and their sound hadn’t yet gelled enough to be fully distinctive. Go 2 is where they got it together.

James R – van morrison – astral weeks

Jeanmarie C – McFadden and Whitehead “Ain’t No Stopping Us Now”

Jeff I – The Gas Giants, Quitter. Don’t know why, just a catchy tune

Jessica DG -“No Excuses” Alice in Chains, “Stay” David Bowie, for the woulda, coulda, shoulda, “Shattered”-Rolling Stones “to live in this town you must be tough tough tough tough tough tough tough” Now more than ever. Wondering when that energy will return

Jim S – Specials, Ghost Town

John B – All things Elliott Smith

John H –  Robyn Hitchcock’s “Glass Hotel,” although really ‘cos I’m trying to figure out how to play it on guitar, not so much because it is resonating in the current context, etc.

John SJP –  “Found a Cure” Ashford & Simpson

Julian C –  George Harrison All things must pass

Kate A – T.Rex ‘The Slider’

Kathleen K – Under Pressure” David Bowie & Freddie Mercury

Kelly K – Blinding me with science

Ken D – Fountains of Wayne, Traffic and Weather – RIP Adam Schlesinger

Kevin H – Doll by Doll Remember and Gypsy Blood

Kevin J – ‘Let’s Go Out Tonight’ the Blue Nile. Love this tune and have had it on repeat for the past couple of weeks

Kim G – I’ve been revisiting Ian Dury – New Boots… also Do It Yourself

Larry L –  I’ve watched a clip of Fountains of Wayne doing “Better Things” on Conan a bunch of times.

Linda B – Both Traveling Wilburys!??

Louba L – three little birds, bob marley

Maggi K –  Michelle K and I have been listening to “Don’t Give Up On Me” by Andy Grammer

Marc D – Matthew Ryan has about 15 albums of stellar material . Alll of it hits you in the corazon.

Margaret C –  Don’t Stand So Close to Me – The Police. Not on repeat but I heard it the other day on a playlist and thought …it was relevant

Mark A –  I’ve gone down the “Tulsa Scene” rabbit hole this week. Leon Russell was a cornerstone

Mary T –  Cheap trick

Michael N – “Compared to What”, Les Mccann

Mike L – “People, I’ve Been Sad” – Christine and the Queens, “Never Come Back” – Caribou

Mike S – Waifu is spinning Dandy Warhols all day today. I must say, they keep swingin’.

Pete C – Bill Withers, Still Bill album front to back

Regina B –  Wichita Lineman

Rema A – he wheels on the bus with grandchildren lo

Renee S –  Beatles album Let It Be

Rick A – Life During Wartime

Robert M –  Stiff Little Fingers “All The Best”

Robert R – R.E.M.’s “Fables Of The Reconstruction” and Richard & Linda Thompson’s “Shoot Out The Lights” albums.

Roger A – Tennessee Whiskey

Roger A – Whole Wide World, Wreckless Eric

Roger H – Soul Asylum, Never Really Been

Ruba S –  Alice Cooper-Killer

Sadiya A – The National – Trouble Will Find Me, Spotify’s “Essential Indies 2000’s” mix has been pretty heavily on repeat

Sam H -The Police: Regatta de Blanc (album)

Sebastian C – George Michael “Listen without prejudice” full album

Serena C – I’m your man. Wham. Or if your William (my toddler)  it’s bat out of hell.

Scott H – Pharoah Sanders – Welcome To Love.

Steve C – Daniel Romano’s Outfit Okay Wow(Live)

Steve Cr – “Summer’s End,” John Prine

Steve H – couple of weeks ago, Facebook was abuzz with that new 17 minute epic from Bob Dylan about the JFK assassination, Murder Most Foul. I listened to it for about 5 minutes and it really wasn’t grabbing me. So, based on its topic and all of the cultural references in the lyrics that writers were notating elsewhere, I got a hankering to listen to two other songs and play them I did, over and over… I played Crucifixion by Phil Ochs, which is a fascinating song and I found a particularly strong live version on YouTube. This song, which was inspired by the JFK assassination, uses Christ’s crucifixion as a metaphor for the way celebrated heroes are built up and then destroyed. I also listened to Don McLean’s American Pie a bunch of times because it has beaucoup cultural references – including a few to an unnamed jester – and it’s a fun listen; an epic with some snap, crackle, and pop.

Timothy K – Scott Walker, “It’s Raining Today”

Todd L – Not really any particular album but have been listening to Dave Matthews non stop the past four weeks.

Tom B –  Beatles and REM seem oddly comforting at this time

Zeina M – Buena vista social club Vinte Anos