All The Way - Frank Sinatra

 This is the first of five Sinatra songs on my list out of the 23 that were on the original list of "Songs That I Like."

"All The Way"

I'm pretty sure that the first time I ever heard this song it was in an episode of Moonlighting.  For the uninitiated that is the TV show that launched Bruce Willis' career.

Frank Sinatra is one of the top selling recording artists of all time and was also an actor.  He was a member of the Rat Pack with Dean Martin and Sammy Davis Jr.

Year Released:  1957

Top Chart Position: Number 2 

Album: Pretty much any Best of or Greatest Hits compilation

My Top Musical Acts

 Stepping away from discussing the songs that I like the most let's look at the acts that are most represented on my list.  Being on here does not necessarily mean I like them better than a group or singer that only has one, or even zero, songs on my list.  It just means they have more songs that caught my ear over the past couple of years.

3 Songs On the List:

Bob Dylan
The Commodores
Journey
Nanci Griffith
Otis Redding
Pink Floyd
The Platters
REO Speedwagon
Shawn Mullins
The Who

4 Songs:

Johnny Cash
Willie Nelson

5 Songs:
The Eagles
Frank Sinatra

6 Songs:
Simon and/or Garfunkel

7 Songs:
Led Zeppelin

10 Songs:
The Beatles (who else was it going to be?)

All Out of Love = Air Supply

Air Supply was one of those bands that people weren't supposed to like but my hopeless romantic side decided it was okay.  They had eight Top Ten songs from 1980 to 1983.

I was introduced to this song because my sister had the Lost In Love album.

All Out of Love

Year released: 1980

Highest Chart Position: #2

Album: Lost In Love (peaked at #22 on album chart)

Other Songs I Like from Air Supply:
Lost In Love
Here I Am
Even The Nights Are Better

All My Loving - The Beatles

 This is the first of ten Beatles songs on my list.  It was released in 1963 and only reached #45 on the Billboard charts.

All My Loving

I like the way the song goes right into the lyrics and tells the story of how much the singer will miss his love and that he will always remain true to her.

In the 1980s there was an AM radio station that had all Beatles weekends so any time I was out and about I was pretty much listening to that station.

Year released: 1963

Top Chart Position: #45 (#1 in Canada, Australia and Sweden)

Album: Meet The Beatles (Reached #1)

Other good songs on the album:
I Want To Hold Your Hand
I Saw Her Standing There
It Won't Be Long

All My Love - Led Zeppelin

 This song is from Led Zeppelin's last studio album, In Through the Out Door.  It contains a great synthesizer solo from John Paul Jones.  The album sold more than 6 million copies worldwide.

Youtube video

I'm pretty sure I discovered this song listening to the great old Atlanta rock station 96 Rock.

Year Released: 1979

Highest Chart Position: Was not released as a single.

Album: In Throught the Out Door (#1 in the US and 5 other countries)

Other songs I like on the album:

In The Evening
Fool In The Rain

Alison - Elvis Costello

 I was 10 years old in 1977 and my listening was reserved to Top 40 radio so I had heard of Elvis Costello but had never really listened to him until he teamed up to write songs with Paul McCartney in the late 1980's.

This song is from his first album and it has been said it is about unrequited love or a forlorn woman he met in a grocery store checkout line.

Alison - Elvis Costello

In the 2021 version of Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time Alison ranked at number 396.

Year Released: 1977

Highest Chart Position: (was not released as a single)

Album: My Aim Is True (reached #38 on the Album Chart)

Other songs I like from the album:
(The Angels Wanna Wear My) Red Shoes
Watching the Detectives

After the Love Has Gone - Earth, Wind & Fire

Earth, Wind & Fire was founded in 1969 by Maurice White in Chicago.  They were one of the top R&B acts of the 1970's and early 1980's and were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2000.  They featured two lead singers, White and Philip Bailey.

After the Love Has Gone is a song about lost love.  It peaked at #2 on the Hot 100 chart in 1979 and was the #38 song on the year end countdown.  It was credited to three writers including David Foster who is one of the most successful pop songwriters and producers of all time.

Live version on Youtube

One of the favorite things I have ever watched on a streaming service was a concert film of and early-80's Earth, Wind & Fire concert.

This song one the Grammy for Best R&B Vocal Performance by A Duo or Group and for Best R&B Song.  In their career the band has been nominated for 17 Grammys and has won 6.  They received a Grammy for Lifetime Achievement.

Maurice White died in February 2016, at the age of 74, from complications from the effects of Parkinson's disease

Year Released: 1979

Highest Chart Position: #2

Album: I Am (reached #3 on the Album chart)

Other Earth, Wind & Fire songs I like:

Shining Star

September

Let's Groove

A Long December - Counting Crows

 If you were old enough to listen to music in 1996 you are aware of A Long December.  It reached number 6 on the airplay chart and was all over MTV with its' video starring Courteney Cox.

I have no idea if I heard this song first on the radio or saw the video.

Video

It is a song about reflecting on the past and looking forward to the future.

Released: 1996

Highest Chart Position:  Was not released as a single.

Album: Recovering the Satellites (Reached #1 on the Album Chart)

Other Songs by Counting Crows:

Mr. Jones
Round Here
Big Yellow Taxi (remake of Joni Mitchell Song)
Accidentally Falling In Love (from Shrek 2)

Trivia question:  What other music video was Courteney Cox in?

A Better Place To Be - Harry Chapin

Documenting my favorite songs in alphabetical order we start with Harry Chapin's "A Better Place To Be."

Live Version

The song tells the story of "a little man" that comes into a bar after his late shift and tell the waitress the story of a woman he met one night.  It is about being lonely and that "anywhere is a better place to be" than another lonely night.  By the end of the song the waitress tells him that she will go home with him if he wants because she realizes she is lonely also.

I discovered this song when I got a Best of Harry Chapin cassette from a used music store.  It is one of two Harry Chapin songs on the list.

Harry Chapin wrote many "story" songs during his career. His best known song is "Cat's In the Cradle." He died in a car accident in 1981 at the age of 38.

Year released: 1972

Highest Chart Position: 118 (Live version peaked at 86)

Album: Sniper and Other Love Songs (reached 160 on Album Chart)

Other songs I like on the album:

Sunday Morning Sunshine

Sniper

Circle