The "Is It Really August Already" Random Ten

When my son was little, I told him how as you get older, each year seems to go faster. A couple of years ago, he told me that he finally understood-- that his school year had zoomed by.

For me this year it's been summer. It seemed like it was never going to get here-- I'll post soon about how cold it was at one of Adam's baseball games. Now that it's finally here, it seems like it's almost gone.


1. Pretty Paper- Roy Orbison
2. Pinhead- The Ramones
3. The Trip- Kim Fowley
4. Memorial Song- Patti Smith
5. Why PIck On Me?- The Standells
6. The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald- Gordon Lightfoot
7. Fountain of Sorrow- Jackson Browne
8. Moving In Stereo/All Mixed Up- The Cars
9. Corrina, Corrina- Bob Wills
10. Giving It All Away- Roger Daltrey

Notes:
1. I discovered Roy Orbison in college, when I borrowed my friend Matt's album "The Very Best of Roy Orbison" in all its vinyl glory. Thankfully, it's on cd now and I purchased it in Seattle a couple of years ago.
2. What would a Friday Random Ten be without the Ramones?
3. Kim Fowley is a legendary producer who also had one hit of his own, which is on the great "Nuggets" collection. He also has a weekend show on Little Steven's Underground Garage on Sirius (now Sirius/XM) radio.
4. This little gem, about Smith's friend and old lover Robert Mapplethorpe, is on the great "No Alternative" cd.
5. The Standell's were a band from L.A. who were best know for a song about Boston, "Dirty Water." This is another one from the "Nuggets" collection.
6. A great song about the sinking of an iron ore freighter on Lake Superior in 1975 in which all 29 hands were lost. The wreck has been found, but the cause of the sinking has never been solved.
7. The king of the California singer/songwriters.
8. The great two-song medley ends the Cars' fabulous first album, which came out in 1978, 30 years ago!
9. Dylan did a nice cover of this. This is the best-known version of it.
10. Half of a medley-- the first song is "It's a Hard Life."