IT'S ABOUT TIME! Vol. 1 Songs about seconds, minutes, hours, days, months, & years!

 

IT'S ABOUT TIME! Vol. 1 contains songs about seconds, minutes, hours, days, months, & years!

People are impatient these days.  Comedian Kathy Ladman used to joke that her dad would stand in front of the microwave saying: “C’mon!  I don’t have all minute!”

Across the 23 tracks on this first installment; Gene Vincent, Dave Dudley, & Ron Wood are marking time.

Lucinda Williams, Richard Hell, & Hank III are questioning their past, and Sam Butera, & Elvis Presley are looking to the future.  

Pink Floyd, The Blasters, and Stevie Ray Vaughan & Jimmie Vaughan warn us that time is running out.

Whatever your philosophical view—one thing is certain—this compilation will kill about 79 minutes (or 4,740 seconds) of your time.  We at JON-KY feel it will be time well-spent.

Use Your Frequency Illusion: Triple Song Titles Strike Again

I may have stopped actively looking for triple song titles, but they seem to keep finding me.  When I'm reading blogs or other music-related sites on the internet (which is almost daily), a song with three (or more) of the same word in its title will often catch my attention.   

The phenomenon of seeing the same thing again and again, and the sensation that it must be more than a coincidence, is known as the Frequency Illusion (or the Baader-Meinhof Phenomenon).  Today I'm sharing songs that went into a folder as they came to my attention.  One song is from one of Richard's whistling compilations, and another is from Stinky's recent feature on the music of Wazmo Nariz.

It's entirely possible that some of the songs in today's collections have appeared in earlier volumes, There are now almost 30 volumes, and it's almost impossible to keep track.  And I have more!  Too many more...

Today's share includes a MYSTERY TRACK!  I saved one of the songs without checking to make sure that it was tagged with the artist's name. Can you identify it? I have nothing but the title ("Really, Really, Really").  The length is 3:24, if that helps. It sounds like garage rock with punk and psychedelic touches.  I couldn't find it on Allmusic, Discogs, or RateYourMusic; and Shazam can't identify it.  Can you?  

The mystery track is the last song on today's compilation Koochie Koochie Koochie.  You can download it individually (rather than the entire comp) if you just want a go at solving the mystery.  

Take That! Songwriters Taking Swipes At Others Vol. 6

Take That! Songwriters Taking Swipes Vol. 6

On this SIXTH installment of TAKE THAT! songwriters take swipes at the usual targets: authority figures, society, & the government.  This volume doesn’t focus as much on tracks recorded by the songwriter as the earlier collections. But it’s usually a fair bet that the singer’s loyalties align with the scribes’.

P.F. Sloan & Edwin Starr take aim at war, with the songs Eve Of Destruction, & well… WAR.

As a recording artist, P.F. takes a swipe at society, as does Sonny Bono, The Temptations, Sam The Sham & The Pharaohs, & Wendy O. Williams (backed by KISS!)

The Ramones basically tear the “Whattaya got?” page out of Marlon Brando’s book with I’m Against It, by being against nearly everything.  The Fugs’ Ed Sanders isn’t happy with hermaphrodites in The Iliad, & Jon Langford is upset with Nashville Radio.

Tennessee Ernie Ford is railing against “the man”, Bo Diddley is against drugs, Suzi Quatro glares in the direction of  Hollywood, & Loretta Lynn rails against Santa!  A bold strategy unless you plan on being on the nice list for certain this year.

While The J. Geils Band is miffed at love in general, Wayne County is incensed at being deemed unworthy of a good dicking.  And Jerry Lee Lewis is taunted by his old friends Ronnie Hawkins & Carl Perkins during a live performance—which is something no fan of The Killer's should miss!

Guest Spots Sequel: Hollie Cook

 

Way back in 2018, Hollie Cook was featured in "Guest Spots", a series that I started to compile songs featuring an artist that did not appear on their own albums.  Here we are eight years later with another set from this talented young singer.  

Hollie Cook's most recent album Shy Girl was one of my favorite new releases of 2025. It was followed by Shy Girl In Dub, which is equally wonderful.  She is back on the Mr. Bongo record label (where she started her solo career with her self-titled 2011 album.)

Hollie is in demand as a vocalist, and not just in the world of reggae and dub.  It doesn't hurt that her parents are both professionals in the music world, but her success is entirely the result of her own talent and hard work.  Among the artists from her parents' generation, she has sung with The Slits, Vic Godard, Glen Matlock, Keith Levene, and Jah Wobble.  She recently appeared on Don Letts' first solo album and Mark Stewart's final album.  

I was also really pleased to see her name among the guest vocalists featured on the 2025 album by West Coast soul and reggae band The Night Owls.  Here's hoping that Hollie's career continues to grow, so that we can feature her music here again in the near future!

ELSEWHERE ON THE BLOG: The first volume of Hollie's Cookbook. 

Take That! Songwriters Taking Swipes At Others Vol. 5

Take That! Songwriters Taking Swipes Vol. 5

Waylon Jennings feels this Outlaw Shit has gotten out of hand while Travis Logan feels this country needs a little more steel guitar.  The Smiths feel you just haven’t earned it, while Joe Jackson can’t believe who that hottie's dating, & R.E.M. preaches that Living Well is The Best Revenge.  While he had his shortcomings, I've always admired Sly Stone’s stance on Loose Booty.  In Ellis Unit One (Live) Steve Earle manages to play guitar while he shakes his first at capital punishment.

Graham Parker rekindles his resentment toward his former label with an acoustic version of Mercury Poisoning.  On the other hand, Nick Lowe loves his label.  Jackson Browne is anti-racist, The Kinks are anti-money grubbers, & Cyan are anti-Lulu!  All The Young Punks (New Boots & Contracts) came late in The Clash’s recording history, but retained a lot of bile.  The Who’s My Wife is self-explanatory, as are Motörhead’s Fools, & Mojo Nixon’s Destroy All Lawyers. - Stinky

Rest In Peace, Parthenon Huxley

He was born Richard Miller in Baton Rouge.  After spending part of his youth in Greece, he returned to the US to attend UNC Chapel Hill.  In 1980, he joined The Blazers as singer and guitarist, and then The Dads.  His first solo single was 1983's "Buddha, Buddha" (under his first pseudonym, Rick Rock).  

He got signed by Columbia and moved to LA to make his debut album, Sunny Nights.  It was released in 1988 under his new name, Parthenon Huxley.  A nod to the old world, and a wink at the brave new one.  

Parthenon Huxley also helped out on other artists' records.  He coproduced the two albums that Mark Oliver Everett made as A Man Called E (before spawning the band Eels).   He also worked with Sass Jordan, Stevie Salas, and Kyle Vincent, among others.

A man called E meets Mullet Man

Parthenon Huxley formed a power pop power trio and named it P. Hux.  The band's 1995 debut album, Deluxe, is a celebration of being in love.  Sadly, the next P. Hux album Purgatory Falls (released in 2001) was about the grief of losing his wife to cancer.  

Huxley joined The Orchestra and toured the world with Mik Kaminski, playing ELO classics and new material.  A song from The Orchestra's album No Rewind is included in today's share.  There's also a remix of a song from Homemade Spaceship, a P. Hux album of ELO covers.  

He eventually remarried and became the father of two daughters.  Five more studio albums were released over the next two decades, plus two collections of stray tracks, three live records, and an autobiography.

In addition to all that, P. Hux contributed to a number of tribute albums, cementing their power pop bona fides by performing songs by Todd Rundgren, Badfinger, and The Raspberries -- plus an original "commercial" for The New Sell Out.  

Parthenon Huxley died in 2026, seventy years after Rick Miller was born.  As a songwriter, he captured authentic feelings of love and loss.  He could poke fun at organized religion and at himself ("Angeleno"). He could be eloquent, and he could celebrate "Simple Things". He sang and harmonized beautifully, and boy could he play guitar.  Check out "Meteor Sky" from his other power trio, VeG.  I treasure his music, and hopefully this collection represents his talents. 

The Best Of Webb Wilder LIVE! Lyons, Paris, & Milwaukee! The Last Of The Full-Grown Men!

The Best Of Webb Wilder LIVE! was compiled from three shows in Lyon France, Paris France, & Milwaukee Wisconsin, & single tracks from appearances in Cambridge Massachusets & Bordeaux.  This collection covers almost as much ground as Webb does.

I'm partial to his psychedelic-tinged stuff like Please Don't Go, Tough It Out, I Had Too Much To Dream Last Night, & Slow Death.

There are also bluesier numbers you may know better by Rockpile (Oh What A Thrill) & The Fabulous Thunderbirds (Powerful Stuff, Sugar Coated Love), and the nuts-and-bolts rockabilly of Move It, Make That Move, & Rockin' Little Angel. 

Any fan of Wilder's knows to expect funny intros & The Webb Wilder Credo, & his originals like Hoodoo Witch, Poolside, Dance With Daddy, & Tough It Out, as well as songs he didn't write that have become associated with him; How Long Can She Last (Going So Fast?)

And when The Last Of The Full-Grown Men goes full country with a song like Steve Earle's Devil's Right Hand, you have to wonder why country radio doesn't have him in heavy rotation.

There are few acts that I enjoy more.  I got Wilder's autograph when I saw him perform solo one night a few years ago, & he couldn't have been nicer.

There's a great write-up here: Webb Wilder