YOU ARE HERE: zharth.net / Zharth's Music Log / Week 155 (Moving On)
(Originally finalized on September 10, 2025)
Preface: The time has come to move on - to the next theme: moving!
Monday: The Cars - Moving In Stereo [The Cars, 1978]
Comments: I'm not super into "new wave" music, but I have to admit, The Cars play it pretty well. Their debut album is packed with hits; most notable among them is this synth rock banger, which would have been memorable even if it hadn't been immortalized by a young Phoebe Cates in a red bikini, from the movie Fast Times At Ridgemont High.
Tuesday: Free - I'm A Mover [Tons of Sobs, 1969] & Bad Company - Movin' On [Bad Company, 1974]
Comments: I'm pairing these songs together because I couldn't decide between them, and - as established in a previous edition of my Band Connections theme - these two bands share a prominent link, in the form of singer Paul Rodgers and drummer Simon Kirke. True to each band's reputation, Free's song is a little more rough and raw, while Bad Company's is smoother and more commercial-sounding. Both were released on their corresponding band's debut album.
Wednesday: Janis Joplin - Move Over [Pearl, 1971]
Comments: With a catchy hook and infectious lyrics, this song opens Janis Joplin's final album - released after her untimely death due to a drug overdose, less than a month after a similar fate befell Jimi Hendrix. Both artists' unfortunate demise qualified them for membership to the unofficial club of musicians who have died at age 27 - joined the previous year by Brian Jones, and the following year by Jim Morrison.
Thursday: George Thorogood & The Destroyers - Move It On Over [Move It On Over, 1978]
Comments: One of George Thorogood's most recognizable tunes, this title track from his second album is a Hank Williams cover. With all due respect to the original artist (apparently a pioneering influence within the country genre), George adds some grit and amplification, and I think it sounds all the better for it.
Friday: The Rolling Stones - You Gotta Move [Sticky Fingers, 1971]
Comments: A blues standard adopted from the gospel tradition via Mississippi Fred McDowell, this song - recorded during the Stones' golden era - features Mick Taylor on slide guitar. You don't have to be religious to appreciate this song's acknowledgement that sometimes in life, we are not in control of our own fate. "When the Lord gets ready, you gotta move."
Saturday (AM): Aerosmith - Movin' Out [Aerosmith, 1973]
Saturday (PM): Billy Joel - Movin' Out (Anthony's Song) [The Stranger, 1977]
Comments: I was able to find two different songs titled Movin' Out for this theme and, once again, I couldn't decide between them. Sonically, I like the raw sound of this track from the debut album of an early and as-yet untested Aerosmith. But Billy Joel's song (from his breakthrough album The Stranger) is decidedly more pop-friendly; and since I shared a Billy Joel song just a few themes ago, I thought it would make for some nice symmetry.
Sunday: B.B. King - Never Make A Move Too Soon [Midnight Believer, 1978]
Comments: Having inspired many of the blues-based rock bands (and guitarists) of the '70s, the King of the Blues himself was still producing hits nearly three decades after his professional debut - and would continue to do so all throughout his life, even into his '80s. Backed by a jazz fusion band, this swinging shuffle was covered by Joe Bonamassa in 2004.
Honorable Mention: Mother Superior - Got To Move [Kaleidoscope, 1997]
Comments: I'm a little bit out of my depth with this band - a power trio from Los Angeles which temporarily backed the Rollins Band, featuring Henry Rollins who fronted Black Flag (not the stuff I usually listen to) - but this disc crossed my desk at one point, and this song in particular stuck out. "Sunlight comin' through my window - you know I got to move."
