Happy New Year!!! (insert favorite noisemaker noise here)...Did you stay up to see in the New Year? Welcome to the first edition of 2013's Tuesday Musical Notes!!! It's a new year and The Notes are here! Thank you for your continued support of this weekly blog of Rock-N-Roll and life perspectives! Thanks again!!
Until the digital revolution made instantaneous hits out of songs like "Gangam Style", the 45, the cassette single, cd single, and radio play were the only ways an artist could "break" a song into popularity. Before iTunes turned every song into a single, a band would negotiate with the record label what songs would be released from a full length album. The strategic release of a single could catapult an album back to the top of the charts when sales began to diminish for the full length album. (Side note: The Notes admits the convenience of the digital download, however, we also wonder if this has not contributed to the quality decline we have seen in recent years in
music overall and the increase in "one-hit wonder" status of many
artists. Personally, it's always better if you can open the cd case, or slide the vinyl out of its sleeve. It has been well said that this generation will never have an "oldies" radio station. Do your kids listen to your music or theirs? We can't help but ponder, if our parents didn't view Boston, R.E.O. and Journey in much the same light.)
During the days of the radio single, a handful of some of the world's most popular rock-n-roll songs made it past all of the hurdles that a top 40 single would have to jump over. These songs were never released as a single, but due to the strength of the combination of lyric and music, they would reach the radio and sometimes wind up as iconic hits for the bands that played them. The list may surprise you. Songs like "Thunder Road" by Bruce Springsteen, "Nowhere Man" by the Beatles, and "Stairway To Heaven" by Led Zepplin were never mass produced as singles in any format, but became huge hits for those bands. One such song is Bob Seger's 1972 ode to the road, "Turn The Page".
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XAbY2cmEsS0
It was released on 2 separate albums. The studio
version on "Back in '72" and the live version, which receives the most
radio play, "Live Bullet". The haunting saxophone permeating the song is
provided by Alto Reed, the sax man for the Silver Bullet Band since its
inception. It is one of the most requested songs by concert goers
making it a staple at a Bob Seger and The Silver Bullet Band show. It is also an apt analogy for beginning a new year....
Many will take today and reflect on the events of the previous year. Through remembering, it is easier to evaluate and plan for the coming year. While no one knows what will come to pass, one thing is sure. God has control. That's right. Regardless of your thoughts on last year and your visions for the new, you must remember that God controls it all. He was in control in Isaiah's age:
"This is what
the LORD says— he who made a way through the sea, a path through the
mighty waters, “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past.
See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I
am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland." Isaiah 43
He was in control during Paul's time:
"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!"
And He has control over our future as well:
"He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”
He
who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then
he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”
He
said to me: “It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning
and the End. To the thirsty I will give water without cost from the
spring of the water of life." Revelation 21
As we turn the page on the new year, we notice that it is blank. The stories of 2013 have yet to be written from our perspective. Your life and the lives of those you will impact are still to be lived in 2013. However, when the Almighty, the Creator of all things looks at the pages of 2013, the pages are filled with stories. Some pages include hardship and loss, others tell stories of success and happiness. But for those who are in Jesus, who have accepted the fact that He died as a substitute for our ungodliness, for those people, each page is filled with joy, no matter how the story may read.....because of the calm of assurance of God's control. With this knowledge it is much easier to......"Turn The Page"
'Til Tuesday,
Loving HIM by loving you,
Randy
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