"Wrapped"

Co-written by Walt Wilkins and Pat Green, I love both versions, but prefer Walt’s, it’s just a little more subtle, you hear the despair and the desire.

In a perfect world, this would be on every cruise ship playlist, every yacht iPod, everywhere Jimmy Buffett rules. People have no idea the music they’ll like, because they’ve never heard it.

"Wrapped" chugs forward like a freight train, you nod your head, you’re in the groove, you’re loving life during every second it plays.

Although the vocal puts Walt’s version over the top, Pat’s take is all about the picking.

This music alone makes the case for Texas… Ha!

"Love Will Stone You"

I’ve been waiting for the right moment to do a tribute to Emitt Rhodes.

But having not been able to get into the proper mood, I’m gonna turn you on to this, from "Mirror", the not as well-received follow-up to the solo debut.

On "Mirror", Emitt distances himself from Paul McCartney and becomes his own man.

And this is my favorite cut from the album.

Come on, that’s why we listen to music, for the TRUTH!

Love WILL stone you, but you WILL come down!

If you’re unfamiliar with Emitt’s work, search on Spotify and check it out. If the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame truly were, Emitt would be in it.

"Used To Get High"
John Butler Trio

It’s a different trio these days, and I haven’t seen the new edition, but this was always the highlight of the shows by the old set. This recorded take is a pale representation of the live rendition. It was like lighting a match, dropping a bucket of ants on every patron, as soon as the band hit the riff you couldn’t help but jump up and dance.

"I Won’t Hold You Back"
Toto

Written and sung by my buddy Steve Lukather…we met because I wrote how much I liked "Make Believe" and wasn’t completely complimentary about the lyrics and he felt I was dissing him and his band. Little did he know that I’m never 100% positive!

And "Make Believe" is on this same album, "Toto IV", the one that won all those Grammys, with "Africa" and "Rosanna"…who knew the song would outlast the actress!

This was a power ballad before they became ubiquitous on MTV, played by guys in long hair and tights, giving the whole concept a bad name.

With backup vocals by Timothy B. Schmit, soaring, anthemic strings and stinging guitar, "I Won’t Hold You Back" starts out quiet and intimate and builds, expressing the emotion we feel in the tumult of a relationship.

Don’t be too proud, too hip to acknowledge and revel in the work of prodigious talent.

And since you guys never talk about your problems, you just endure your pain independently, consider this my gift to you. Since you’re too macho to call a friend and cry, to express how bad you feel since you and she broke up, just put on this record and revel in your misery…it’ll make you feel a bit better.

From: Steve Lukather
Subject: Re:Rhinofy-More Random

Hey Bob,

Thanks man. That was sweet of you. Means a lot really. That song always meant a great deal to me.

By the way, those strings were real and it was the London Symphony orchestra and our old friend James Newton Howard arranged and conducted at Abbey Road London.

You wont see THIS on a recording budget anymore. lol

We went full on for that album.

It was a fun time in my life. I was 24 and on our 4th record. Damn.. where did the time go?

Yer pal

Luke

"Simple Man"
Bad Company

I am just a simple man, trying to be me

And so many don’t like it. They want me to conform, be a member of the group, refuse to ruffle feathers.

But I can’t.

Whenever I try, it’s phony. I can’t ass slap and pretend we’re all bros together. I was born different. The secret is, I’m not the only one.

I am just a simple man, trying to be free

And it’s so damn hard. Because when you go your own way, it’s harder to make money, the press is riddled with the stories of entrepreneurs, they don’t focus on the losers, and there are tons more of those.

I know.

Freedom is the only thing means a damn to me

I’m not talking about that right wing horseshit, where they talk about freedom but want to tell us who to date, how to live, inject themselves into our bedrooms and minds. That’s the opposite of freedom, that’s close-mindedness.

I want to be free to think unpopular thoughts, without being shouted down by jerks who believe if their voice is loud enough, they win.

They call these people bullies.

Which is why I spend so much time alone.

When I listen to Bad Company I feel like I’ve got a best friend riding shotgun.

The band has been almost completely forgotten, "Simple Man" is better than the rest of the album it comes from, but the second record is as solid as can be and the first is a classic.

And that’s not all.

"A Rock ‘N’ Roll Fantasy"
The Kinks

What kind of crazy, fucked up world do we live in where the Bad Company track with an almost identical title is better known than this classic?

One in which radio is calcified and plays the same damn cuts over and over again.

Eventually, the Kinks got on the radio again.

But none of those cuts were as good as this one.

There’s a guy in my block, he lives for rock
He plays records day and night
And when he feels down, he puts some rock ‘n’ roll on
And it makes him feel alright
And when he feels the world is closing in
He turns his stereo way up high

If this ain’t you, stop reading right now, you and me have nothing in common. This is the essence of the rock and roll experience. The one the baby boomers lived, before their progeny believed being a member of the group was better than having an individual identity.

Dan is a fan and he lives for our music
It’s the only thing that gets him by
He’s watched us grow and he’s seen all our shows
He’s seen us low and he’s seen us high

This is what all the acts have wrong. They’re playing for the money, for the corporation, despite paying lip service, the fans come last. Otherwise, why would ticket prices be so high, why would they keep bitching they’re being ripped off?

This music is what gets us by. We believe in you.

And there’s nothing more an individual can give you.

I’ve spent my entire life living in a rock and roll fantasy.

And it hasn’t been easy.

But when it’s right, it’s fantastic!

And it’s the music that’s gotten me through.

"Hungry Eyes"
Eric Carmen

One of these days I’m gonna do a whole playlist on Eric Carmen’s "Boats Against The Current", an overlooked masterpiece. And I truly believe that, just listen to "Runaway".

But despite a promising start to his solo career, it stalled.

And then, just when we’d about given up hope, came this.

Every weekend we’re subjected to the hype for overblown high concept productions. But it’s the little movies that grab hold of us, that won’t let us go.

Like "Dirty Dancing".

I wouldn’t go to see it in the theatre. But when we rented a videotape my ex-wife watched it three times before the twenty four hours expired and we had to return it.

And I still remember it. The look in Baby’s face, all the hope, all the desire.

And she had the time of her life by ultimately being herself.

Alas, that was the character, the real person, Jennifer Grey, got a nose job and was instantly forgotten. Accept your imperfections, they’re what make you unique and lovable.

"1-2-3"
Len Barry

In the modern era, a record like this would have no chance, it would be trumped by the beat-infused mono-sound of the usual suspects. But Len Barry wasn’t kept down by the Beatles, Top Forty radio truly played the best tracks, and if you’re a boomer, you know every note of this record, an everything but the kitchen sink production with memorable changes and a just shy of a scream vocal.

It’s easy.

Like taking candy, from a baby!

"So Little Time To Fly"
Spirit

This is so hypnotic without being dated psychedelic crap you’ll be wowed if you’ve never heard it and if you know it you’re smiling right now.

Spirit had a couple of hits, but they were much more than that.

The band wrote the riff for "Stairway To Heaven", yup, Jimmy Page lifted it. They’ve been underrated and unjustly forgotten.

In a perfect world, there’d be a Spirit reunion at Coachella and the desert wind would be infused with thinking man’s rock that speaks as much to the genitals as the mind.

Alas, Randy California is deceased, but this record is positively ALIVE!

"Rose In The Garden"
Karla Bonoff

There’s a rose in the garden
It will bloom if you’re sure
That you pay close attention
But leave it room

That’s the dilemma. How do you become close without suffocating the other person.

You’ve been alone for so long. Once you find someone, you can’t help but latch on, staying close, being fulfilled. But they make movies about this. You think it’s reciprocal. But it’s not.

I’m not telling any lies now
I need you
You know how
I think I can see how to let you grow
I’ve got to let you go

Honesty. It’s the best policy, especially in relationships.

Can you lay it all on the line without making the other person feel controlled?

It’s a dilemma.

You’ve been together so long that you see your soul in her or him. You can’t see living your life without them.

But sometimes you have to.

Spotify link

Previous Rhinofy playlists